The Shifting Sands
by WesDaaman
Summary: The eight heroic friends trek across a vast, sandy desert in hopes of reaching a Pony settlement and find out what has been keeping them from any contact with other Pony nations.
1. Sands of Darkness

It was a dark night with a full moon over a vast desert with sand dunes. A male Unicorn Pony was racing for his life within the shadows of a tall and rock-made mountain. He immediately took refuge in a small cave on the mountain's side.

"That crazy something-or-other will never find me here", he said out loud to himself.

"You mortals are quite often ignorant", thundered a big booming voice from behind.

The Pony ducked down and hid his face in his front hooves, shaking in fear.

"Go away!" he spoke to the thing stalking him in a very quivery-sounding voice, "I don't want part in any scheme you plan for both me and my kin"

"But you shall get respect from the others of your kind if you ally with me", said the huge voice, "Try your best to hide from within the shadows. But it will not work, for I practically AM the shadows"

"But I, Polish-Fine IV, shall never listen to you", said the Pony in fear.

"You shall listen to me you fool!" hissed the evil voice.

_To Be Continued_


	2. Substitute Creature

Back in Ponyville, it was already becoming morning. At the local elementary school, the usual teacher, Cheerilee, was out sick so Griffy the Pygmy Griffin was acting as the substitute teacher.

"Viingizui!" he said out loud to himself in excitement, "I've always wanted to teach a class"

His fantasy then ended as the only eight students who could make it that day arrived into the classroom: Apple Bloom, Sweetie Belle, Scootaloo, Snips, Snails, Twist, Diamond Tiara and Silver Spoon.

"Cheerilee has a fever and is out unfortunately", said Griffy, "So I shall be your temporary instructor for the day"

"Our what?" asked Snails.

"He means our substitute teacher", said Snips.

"Today", announced Griffy, "We shall be out on a field trip on the edges of my homeland, the Everfree Forest"

"Oh boy!" exclaimed Twist with joy, "I've alwayth wanthed tho thee the Everfree Foresth!"

"Sounds like fun!" added Scootaloo.

"I'd rather stay here than get my hooves dirty", said Diamond Tiara, acting uninterested.

"I'm with her", added Silver Spoon.

"You can't just ignore a class assignment", said Griffy with a serious tone for laughs, "Now let's get rolling"

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Griffy took the 8 foals outside the school and to the outskirts of the Everfree Forest.

"Can anypony identify this species?" asked Griffy, pointing at a Tree.

"It's a Willow!" said Sweetie Belle, hoping to sound smart.

"Correct SB", said Griffy.

He then snapped off a piece of the Willow's bark.

"Did any of you know that a Willow's bark can be used to cure rheumatism?" asked Griffy.

"What's rheu-r-ra...whatever that is?" asked Snips.

"Well it's kind of hard to explain", said Griffy. Suddenly, he felt a slight pain course through his spine for a split second. This resulted in him saying "Ow!"

"I think I know", suggested Silver Spoon, noticing Griffy's tiny back problem, "It's a symptom you get when your bones start to hurt"

"That's right", said Griffy, "Now it's time for lunch. But we are going to eat in outdoors. Anypony bring food already?"

The eight youngsters nodded in agreement.

"Well you can bring all on out here", continued the Pygmy Griffin, "I'll go and find some Bugs to eat in the Grass"

_To Be Continued_


	3. Trixie Returns to Ponyville

As soon school ended for the day, Griffy departed with the foals for home. All of a sudden, Griffy spotted an-odd poster on a building side while he was flying along. He swooped down to take a look.

"Hootin' Hadrosaurs!", he exclaimed when he got a good look at the poster, "Trixie's coming back to town? Can't believe that boaster is back"

"TRIXIE?", exclaimed two very eager young boy voices from nearby. They were Snips and Snails.

The two colts rushed over and accidently knocked Griffy off his standing position.

"Oh boy!", said Snips with a big smile, "I hope The Great and Powerful Trixie has some REAL progress on fighting off a giant predator!"

"Well yeah", agreed Snails, "And what if she even asks us both out"

"You two are too young to know about dating", said Griffy, pulling himself back up to his feet, "And you know she brags and thinks her magic is better than the rest of her race, including your magic boys"

"How would you know any of that?", asked Snails.

"Because I'm a young adult and I am more wiser, no offense", replied Griffy.

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The next day, Trixie was putting on yet another show to boast about her magic in front of the whole crowd of Ponies and non-Pony species. The six main Ponies, Spike and Griffy were all standing together, completely annoyed at the fact that Trixie was still boasting and had not learned her lesson at all.

"ANY UNICORN PONY CAN DO THAT MAGIC MUMBO JUMBO!", shouted out Griffy.

"Now Griffy", said Fluttershy softly, hoping nothing bad would happen, "No need to interject"

"Looks like we have some more ignorant ones opposing me!", anounced Trixie, noticing Griffy and Fluttershy's comment, "Anypony care to asisst me in removing them from the audience?"

"You said there would be free hay here lady!", shouted out Doctor Whoof.

"Not to mention that every species here in town gets their own money safe for free!", shouted one of the Pigs.

Pretty soon, all the Ponies and non-Ponies of Ponyville just all departed for home, knowing that they had all just wasted a few minutes of their personal lives just to see that boasting female Pony do the same acts again for attention. The only ones left standing in front of Trixie's stage were the 8 friends and they all looked pretty bored.

"Didn't you learn your lesson after that incident with that Usra Minor?", said Rainbow Dash.

The 8 friends then left Trixie to be alone.

"Who needs them", Trixie mumbled to herself, "I can find a place that totally respects boasters such as myself"

_To Be Continued_


	4. Trixie Gets Temptation

Later that evening, Trixie just looked at the pile of wooden rubble she was performing on today. It was all that remained of her "house" that she would normally travel around in, but since it had been destroyed since that Ursa incident.

"Who needs any of these folks", she said to herself, tears coming out of her eyes, "I can find my own place in the world, even without this rubble that used to be my home"

So she then started to bolt straight towards the Everfree Forest. She ran past stands, houses and nocturnal Creatures as she bolted through Ponyville, nearly knocking them over.

"WHO NEEDS ANY OF YOU!" Trixie shouted out at the top of her lungs.

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After galloping as fast as her legs could carry her, Trixie collapsed from exhaustion into the dirt as soon as she was half a mile into the Everfree Forest. She pulled herself back up to her feet and spat out some of the dirt that was in her mouth and looked around at the forest she was standing in. She had never actually been in a forest at night before and she was a little frightened.

"Keep it together Trixie", the Unicorn Pony mumbled to herself, "I am now aware of what I'm supposed to be in the universe. Trixie, attached to no nation...neither servant nor friend to anypony"

That's when she realized that she left her wizard outfit back in Ponyville. She then decided not to go and get it, for she just decided to quit with doing shows. Trixie then sat down in the dirt and began to wonder, now that she was a rogue nomad then how was she going to have a nice warm bed or even have ones who actually respect her. She started to shed tears of sadness over this debate in her head.

"Trixie", bellowed a deep and booming voice from the shadows.

Trixie opened her eyes and looked around in fear.

"H-h-hello?" she stammered in fear, "Who's th-there?"

"Trixie", repeated the thundering and booming voice.

Trixie started shake in fear and her eyes became filled with great fright. Suddenly, from the shadows in front of her, appeared a pair of huge, evil-looking, glowing red eyes. The eyes were just about as big as her.

"Shadows are everywhere", the thing spoke to her in its deep, creepy voice, "And where they are, so am I"

"Who or what are you?" said Trixie, trying to pick up some nerve.

"I have many names, but you may call me Kurayami", said the evil thing, "I am the inventor of evil"

"What do you want?" said Trixie, her fear getting the best of her.

"Even my shadows cannot hide your fear", hissed Kurayami, "Or the truth that you will never get respect from Ponyville. And deep down, you know it"

Trixie's heart started to beat quicker from great fear of this Demonic Entity. Kurayami then emerged from the shadows in its true form, a black-colored, tadpole-shaped, cloud-like Being with red eyes.

"So maybe I won't get a good reputation in Ponyville", said Trixie, starting to really become scared of this evil thing, "Maybe I'll have better luck in Canterlot"

"And if you do not", bellowed Kurayami in its deep voice, "You will die from your own sorrow"

Trixie gulped in fear.

"Join me Trixie", hissed Kurayami, "Join my legion that is the source of all evil, and you will not lose your life. Your boastful personality is perfect for recruitment"

"No", said Trixie, beginning to shed tears of sorrow, realizing about her own selfish and boastful personality, "I won't let my whole species down"

"You will fail your own species if you refuse my offer", thundered Kurayami, starting to circle Trixie, "For your race, your species and the universe will be spared. Do not be a fool. If you join me, you shall get the respect you deserve from Ponyville"

"Well", muttered Trixie in a hoarse whisper sad tears pouring from her eyes, "I-I-I-I"

"Dear Trixie", said Kurayami, beginning to coil around her, "Let me comfort you, and make you real evil material"

_To Be Continued_


	5. News and Tsarog

The next morning, Spike woke up to feel something coming out of him, as if he were about to vomit.

"Uh-oh", mumbled Spike to himself, "Maybe I shouldn't have eaten that much before bed"

Spike then burped out a scroll sent from Celestia, not any undigested food.

"Hey Twilight", said Spike as soon as he jumped out of his bed and rushed over to Twilight and poked her, "Wake up, I think we have an urgent message from Princess Celestia"

From the sound of "urgent" and "from Princess Celestia", Twilight immediately jumped out of her bed, worried that it might be bad news.

"What's going on Spike?" she asked him.

"Well", said the young Dragon as he looked at the scroll, "There appears to be a situation going on in the Pony settlement in the Tarko Desert and Celestia needs to speak to you, I and our six friends at once"

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The 8 friends rushed for Canterlot, right after they had a small breakfast. Just when they arrived in the throne room, they discovered that Celestia looked a little worried about something.

"Good, you have all arrived", said Celestia, "We have lost all communications with the settlement of Sandorraia* in the great Tarko Desert"

"Sandorraia?" said Rarity with a surprised face, "Some of my relatives live there, for it is a Unicorn Pony settlement"

"Now how have no communications come about?" asked Griffy.

"The Pigeons that carry messages from place to place", said Celestia, "Have not really come back with any messages what so ever. I fear something terrible might be happening there. After so many guards were sent by me to investigate but never came back, I then sent Luna to find out what was going on, but she has not reported back yet at all. I sense something evil is happening out there, I can feel the dark forces of Kurayami active out there somewhere"

"And you are 100% right, dear Celestia", said a sinister-sounding female voice from nowhere.

"I recognize that voice", said Celestia with a serious expression, "That is one of the many Demon minions of Kurayami I have fought long ago, Tsarog"

"Got that right", said the voice of Tsarog, this time she warped out of an orb of gray-colored energy that appeared out of nowhere from behind the 8 friends. Tsarog's chosen mortal form was that of a huge, green Mosquito-like Creature that size of Celestia herself.

"Tsarog!" hissed Celestia, the 8 friends rushing behind the princess in fear, "We meet again"

"Well you rarely see Demons like me", replied the Mosquito-like Creature, "For I am one of the 18 Demons to have a feminine personality while the 82 others have masculine personalities"

"We don't need any lectures!" snapped Celestia, "What is going on in the Tarko Desert? And where is my sister?"

"She's fine", said Tsarog, "She's just a captive, now I have to depart to wreak more havoc on Sandorraia, my master, Kurayami, is counting on me. Oh, and by the way"

Tsarog then used some of her dark powers on the 8 friends to make them float towards her.

"These are the representatives of the Elements of Harmony?" questioned Tsarog, "You're kidding right? they are quite young"

Celestia wanted to blast some of her powers at the Demon, but she was worried she might hit Twilight and her 7 friends.

"I might make good use of them in the future", continued Tsarog, stroking the underside of Griffy's lower beak.

"Are you trying to seduce me?" said Griffy in a weirded-out voice.

"Just scanning all of you", she replied.

Then Tsarog vanished in thin air, dropping the 8 heroes onto the floor.

"Looks lahke we've got another adventure ahead of us", said Applejack, "One that is lahfe-threatenin'"

"I can't believe she slightly flirted with me", said Griffy, brushing off his fur and feathers.

"It's just a technique she uses to catch her prey", said Celestia, "Now you all must go to the Tarko Desert and find both Sandorraia and Luna, see if they're all right. Now go, there's no time to lose"

"Relax", said Rainbow Dash with a smile, "The Elements of Harmony can do anything"

"They might have a weak point however", said Rarity.

"What do you mean "weak"", said Pinkie Pie, grabbing hold of both Spike and Griffy, nearly choking them by accident, "Those Elements are amazing, just ask the boys here"

"Can we now go?" gasped Spike as soon as Pinkie let him and Griffy go.

"We probably should", added Fluttershy, "Now let's roll out!"

"Hey!" said Twilight with half amused face, "That's my "saving the world" catchphrase"

"Here's CHIP", said Celestia, telekinizing the calculator-like device called CHIP over to Griffy, "He will, of course, help you all out. Now get going please, I'm counting on you, and so is Luna and Sandorraia"

_To Be Continued_

* A reference to the Sorraia Horse breed.


	6. The Tarko Desert

Deep in the dark and gloomy lair of Kurayami, the master of evil needed to tell two of its mortal minions an important message.

"Send for the two youngsters who secretly serve me", ordered out Kurayami.

Two Crow-like Demons then created a large orb of dark red-colored energy and spoke into it as a way of contacting these particular beings and then opened up a portal to the mortal realm. In through the portal came two very unexpected mortal Ponies. They were none other than...Diamond Tiara and Silver Spoon!

"You called, lord Kurayami?" asked Diamond Tiara.

"I feel as though the representatives of the eight Elements of Harmony are about to strike at my evil plans again", replied the huge, cloud-like Being.

"So what do you want us for?" asked Silver Spoon, "We're just foals"

"Zortna!" shouted Kurayami's deep voice, "Hold these two in your clutches to give them fear so they will understand properly"

And all of a sudden, a large, Bat-like Demon swooped down and picked up the two terrified fillies with his claws.

"Name's Zortna", said the Demon to the two young girls, "I am one of the 82 Demons with masculine personalities, and if you don't listen properly to the master, you'll be having your last breaths under my powers"

"Okay, we get the message!" replied Diamond Tiara and Silver Spoon in fear.

"Your assistance shall be required in the Tarko Desert", continued Kurayami, "And you shall be assisted by another mortal, like yourselves"

"Fetch me the adult female!" announced Kurayami and Zortna let the two foals go and flew into the shadows to retrieve this other Pony. He then came back with The Great and Powerful Trixie.

"It's still hard to be working in these gloomy conditions", said Trixie as emerged from the shadows with Zortna hovering above her, "Hey, why are there two foals here?"

"This shall take time, due to you being new to the Legion of Evil", said Kurayami to Trixie, "Now here is what you all shall do"

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Meanwhile, CHIP (computerized hoofheld internal processor), had already transformed into a large, bus-like vehicle and was already taking the 8 friends to the Tarko Desert. They were all inside the moving machine, learning from Rarity on what Sandorraia is like.

"Similar to some Earth Ponies settling in that other desert, making the settlement of Appleloosa", said Rarity, "Sandorraia was made by settler Unicorn Ponies, and some of them are my relatives"

"Is there tell of any native Critters havin' conflict with the settlers, just lahke my Applelosan relatives havin' conflict with them Buffalo?" asked Applejack.

"AJ!" snapped Griffy, "Don't call them that. I found out that those sorts of Ungulates get gravely offended when you call them that, they prefer the name "Bison""

"Mah bad", replied AJ with a guilty expression.

"Why yes, there are indigenous sentient Creatures", said Rarity, "Camels, Baboons, Gemsbok, Jackals and Kiangs are native and they seem to not like the settler Ponies taking up there land"

"What's a Kiang?" asked Spike.

"That, I don't know", replied Rarity with a shrug, "I have heard of them, but I have no clue what they are"

"Do you know Fluttershy?" asked Griffy to Fluttershy.

"I'm afraid not", replied Fluttershy.

"Twilight?" asked Griffy to Twilight.

"I think I've seen them in one of my books back in Ponyville", she replied, "They are another variety of Equine, like Zebras, Mules, Donkeys and Ponies, except they look like brownish orange Donkeys with long, Pony-like faces"

"Destination reached", spoke out the computerized British voice of CHIP, "All shall board off now"

As soon as all 8 Beings boarded off the bus-like machine, CHIP transformed back into a small calculator device and Twilight put the gadget away in her pack she had brought along with her.

"Hey wait minute!" gasped Griffy with surprise as her stared at the large, dry canyon that CHIP had halted in, "This looks so familiar. It's that canyon to that dune-filled desert I shortly visited on my journey for a new home. So I've been to the Tarko Desert before! Viingizui!"

"So you'll somewhat know where we're going?" asked Rainbow Dash.

"Sort of", replied Griffy. That's when Pinkie Pie immediately rushed right for him and began acting nutty.

"So you'll know a fraction of the Tarko Desert!" squealed Pinkie in excitement, "Not much, but still, YAY!"

"Now let's move", announced Spike, "We've got that settlement to find"

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As the friends trekked through the long canyon, the burning sun almost blinded their eyes. The insides of their mouths were dry and the outsides of their mouths were caked with dust. They trudged onward. The scorching heat spread out across the ground like a molten pool of sand and dust that turned even the blue on the horizon into waves of rolling vapor.

Finally, the group reached the canyon's end, which emerged into the enormous dune-filled desert itself, the Tarko Desert.

"Can't we get CHIP to do some sort of shade for us?" Griffy asked Twilight, staring at her saddle bag in which the device was stored within.

"Sorry", replied Twilight, "But CHIP runs out of energy easily and it actually takes a while for him to reboot himself"

"Mennom motelradish", a nearby voice spoke out.

They group look to see a Golden Jackal with sword placed in a belt around its waist, standing on small dune, just a few meters away.

"I met one of those Canines while I briefly visited hear", Griffy whispered to Spike.

"Zheta", continued the Jackal and made a "follow me" gesture with his head.

"I think he wants us to follow him", said Spike.

"I'm not so sure we can trust a Jackal", said Twilight, "But if he's feeling bad for us, then we should probably listen"

The 8 followed the Jackal over a few dunes until they all reached what looked like a small pool of fresh water. The Jackal was just standing there, looking proud of himself that he helped out some innocent souls.

"WATER!" the eight friends shouted out in excitement and thirst.

They all rushed as fast as they could to the pool and began to drink rapidly.

Another Jackal came out of nowhere, looking very angry and grabbed the polite one by the leg with her teeth, dragging the male away to have a serious discussion.

"Why are you helping them?" asked the female Jackal to the male in the foreign language they spoke, "Six of those eight travelers are Ponies! You and I hate Ponies!"

"But they have two non-Pony friends", replied the male Jackal, "Does that not count?"

"We'll let this one slip by for now", replied the female and the two Jackals retreated away over the horizon.

"Hey!" said Rainbow, looking around after she had her fill of water, "Where'd that Jackal go?"

"He probably had his own kin to attend to, just like how we need to tend to mine", answered Rarity.

A strange breeze suddenly picked up.

"Who turned on the AC?" asked Pinkie.

"I've heard tales of sandy deserts like this one having terrible things happen when the wind picks up", said Fluttershy.

"Ya'll mean lahke a sand storm?" asked Applejack.

"Did you say...sandstorm?" asked Griffy in a gasp, "I got caught in one of those while I was shortly here last time"

Just as they had all hypothesized, a humongous sand storm was approaching in the distance.

_To Be Continued_

NOTE: The language the native Tarko Desert Creatures speak is Arabic.


	7. Attacked by Sand & Predators

The light breeze suddenly turned into a fierce wind that grew steadily stronger as the dark curtain of sand advanced.

"Hang on!", yelled Twilight as soon as she tossed Spike up onto her back with her teeth and he grabbed hold of her neck tightly for good grip, "Let's all search for cover!"

The 8 friends ran as fast as they could as the howling wind of the sand storm slowly gained on them all.

"Where are the Pegasus Ponies responsible for this?" shouted out Rainbow Dash, turning her head to check for any signs of Pony activity, but found there to be no Pegasus Ponies controlling the sandstorm

"This is one of those environments that does not need a Pony's attention to function properly", answered Griffy as he flew near her, "Just like my home in the Everfree Forest and the rest of the universe outside Equestria"

"Flyers!" called up Twilight to Fluttershy, Rainbow and Griffy who were flying just over her head, "Do you see any form of shelter out there from your eye view"

Griffy and the two Pegasus Ponies looked carefully until they spotted what looked like an ancient, deserted city of ruins not far from their current position.

"We found shelter!" muttered Fluttershy, not wishing to yell, for she considered it rude, even if the raging wind would muffle her up.

"WE FOUND SHELTER!" shouted both Griffy and Rainbow Dash together at the top of their lungs, startling Fluttershy by accident, "IT LOOKS LIKE AN ANCIENT, TEMPLE-FILLED CITY OR SOMETHING!"

"Wait", Griffy said in his thoughts, "That's the exact same city I discovered on my lonely journey for a new home"

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The city was at this point almost impossible to see, for the sand storm had advanced past our heroes and nearly blinded them all. The sand storm's waves felt like a swarm of Insects stinging all at once. The sand burned their eyes and blasted their skin in a wash of pain. It was like a stinging furnace of wind and sand. The sound was deafening, the bite of the sand worse than fire. Spike, as he held really tight to his best friend's mane and kept his eyes shut, could feel Twilight's hooves pounding the desert, but he couldn't hear a thing over the screaming wind.

"We're almost to that city place!" shouted out Applejack.

"This sandy terror might mess-up my beautiful mane!" shouted out Rarity.

The city was now nearly invisible to them all. Not only because it was made of dun-colored sandstone that blended into the desert, but also because the hissing sand obscured its shape, making it look faint and Ghost-like.

The full, raging power of the sandstorm came down on the 8 friends. The sandstorm itself turned even darker. The sound of the wind grew shrill. The violent whistling hurt the inside of our heroes' heads. Their ears flattened against their heads and their eyes squeezed shut.

The friends blindly zoomed through the arched, gateless entry of the ruined city and into the huge, empty courtyard. The sandstorm chased after them. Sand tore into their skin. Griffy, Fluttershy and Rainbow Dash could no longer fly, due to the storm exhausting their wings, and so fell to the ground with the others.

"WE'VE GOT TO GET OUT OF THE OPEN!" Twilight screamed over the wind.

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They all raced by foot toward an alley that broke from the courtyard and disappeared into darkness. Some hated entering the dark, cramped place, but they had no choice. The dark, narrow alley opened onto a wide plaza. The heroic friends blinked at the strange sight before them. The plaza was filled with massive Baboon statues, toppled and ruined by the wind. The friends rushed toward the nearest one and they found shelter in a niche beneath the belly of the great stone Beast resembling a Baboon with Antelope hooves and Vulture wings.

Gasping, the friends stood, legs trembling, rumps braced against the stone behind them. Spike slipped off Twilight's back and huddled between her forelegs.

"What a strange place this is", whispered Fluttershy, slowly closing her eyes, "I don't think anypony's lived here for a long time"

"Ah don't think Ponies were the species to live in this here place", said Applejack, remembering the Baboon structures that filled the plaza.

Griffy squinted through the windblown sand. He gazed up at black and empty windows. He stared down the plaza as far as he could but saw only darkness.

"Someone DOES live here", Griffy said ominously.

Rarity's eyes parted. She looked at Griffy. "Why do you say that? There's not a light in a window, not a snake of smoke from a chimney. This place has been deserted for years. It's...dead"

"I was here for a short time a while back, so I know a small bit. Don't any of you smell it?" asked Griffy.

"No, my nostrils are clogged with sand", Spike sneezed violently.

Griffy was hesitant. He didn't want to make his seven friends any more frightened than they already were.

Rainbow Dash's nose wrinkled. She sneezed twice in a row and then her eyes widened. "It's-"

"Blood" was all Pinkie Pie said.

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The sandstorm raged all through the night. The six Ponies somehow managed to drift off to sleep, but Griffy and Spike lay there in the dark listening to the hissing sound of the wind. Suddenly, the two boys heard another sound: a faint, guttural growling.

The young Mountain Dragon and the sub-adult Pygmy Griffin shivered. With the wind still blowing dark plumes of sand, the two couldn't be sure the shadowy shapes they saw in the distance were real. Then they heard the growling again, sounding closer this time. Whatever they were, Spike and Griffy sensed they were moving through the abandoned streets, drawn from their lairs by the scent of the two's fear.

"Girls, wake up", whispered Spike and Griffy, their voices quivering.

"What is it?" asked as the Ponies, drowsily.

"Shhh", whispered Spike and Griffy as they placed their claws on some of the Ponies' flanks, "Don't move"

The six Ponies' ears pricked. They clearly heard them coming, too. Their eyes became wide with fear and their jaws trembled ever so slightly.

At the edge of the plaza, Griffy caught a fleeting glimpse of something moving. It slunk low to the ground, gliding back and forth like a dark cloud, coming closer. Then, through the darkness of the shifting sand, he saw another, and another.

"Fenrirs", Griffy whispered, his body trembling, "I met these things for a short while on my short visit here"

"There's many", Twilight whispered, watching the giant, Wolf-like Canines.

Spike and Griffy both felt the Ponies try to back against the wall for safety, but their flanks were already pressed to the stone. There was nowhere to go.

_To Be Continued_


	8. Guidence from the Stars

Suddenly, an Antelope with a blue cloak tied around its neck and draped over its body and a strange, Horse-like mask shielding its face pushed through the windblown sands, its gleaming horns very long, sharp and pointing straight up, yet slightly curved backward.

"Get up!" ordered the mysterious Antelope in a male voice. His voice was muffled from the shielding of his mask.

"W-who are ya'll?" asked Applejack, wondering which was worse: the Fenrirs or the cloaked stranger with tall, sharp horns.

"No time for that now. Get up!" shouted the Antelope.

The 8 heroic friends felt their bodies shaking with fear and chill from the sandy air.

"Twilight", said Griffy to Twilight, "Before we die, there's something I've always wanted to tell you for a while"

"W-what?" stammered Twilight, wondering about where Griffy was going with this.

"How is "Magic" an Element of Harmony?" he asked her, "I honestly don't get it"

"It's another way of saying "intrigue"", replied Twilight, "I know, why don't they just call it the Spirit of Intrigue instead of the Spirit of Magic?"

"AHEM!" grunted the Antelope stranger in a very impatient tone, "Are any of you outlanders going to listen to me or die here in the Great Dead City?"

Rarity then assumed that the local Creature was talking mostly about her, for she was related to some of the settler Ponies in this region and her family resemblance was probably causing her to look like somepony from her family that was hated most by the native Animals.

"Please, take me", said Rarity, trying to sound brave, "But leave my 7 friends here alone. They have not done anything wrong. It's me you want."

At that instant, one of the Fenrir Wolves leaped. The 8 friends and the Antelope saw its gaping mouth, its jagged teeth and its flared, outstretched claws. The 8 friends screamed as the mysterious Antelope reared up, his forelegs flailing. But it was the Antelope's horns that met the predatory Creature second. His horns impaled into the Fenrir's neck. The Beast fell, its already dead eyes staring straight at the 8 friends as if to say: you were mine.

"Get on your feet", the stranger commanded, "We don't have much time before all the Fenrirs take our lives"

The Ponies nodded to Spike and Griffy and the two boys up onto their backs: Spike on Twilight's back and Griffy on Fluttershy's back. With their masked Antelope rescuer swinging his head from side to side to ward off any other Fenrirs in the area by the sight of his horns, the 8 friends followed him out beyond the city walls.

"Who are you?" Twilight yelled over the wind as two more dark hulking shapes emerged from the darkness. They were other Antelope of the same species as the stranger, but this time with hooded purple cloaks (with two holes per hood for their horns to stick out of) and each of those two was being ridden by a Baboon with both a red cape and a pinkish turban. One of the riding Baboons took out its sword and asked the Antelope rescuer of the 8 friends about what had just happened a few minutes ago in the same language as the Jackals from before spoke. The rescuer replied in the same language and announced something really important to the rest of the Antelope and the two Baboons. The mystery Antelope then started galloping off, the others trailing him.

The 8 friends fell in behind the five cloaked figures, following the 3 Antelope and 2 Baboon riders away from the Great Dead City and back into the storm.

Despite the wind, the Antelope set a swift pace with 2 Baboons hanging onto their backs tightly. Fluttershy felt her fear growing stronger. Who were these five indigenous strangers and where were they taking them? She desperately wished that someone would at least slow down and talk to them, but the forbidding strangers trekked harder, the 3 Antelope crossing the desert in great graceful strides.

At last, the Antelope slowed their pace and the 8 friends drew even with their rescuer, who was in the lead. Fluttershy was coincidentally the one closet to their rescuer.

Fluttershy spoke up as best she could, her heart pounding with her adorable shy personality. "Excuse me, sir?"

The strange Antelope cocked his head, but he didn't respond. His wooden, Equine-like mask was somewhat frightening-looking, but at least his eyes were visible to see and they did not look threatening at all.

Fluttershy swallowed and tried again. "How did you know, sir, where we were?" Fluttershy's fur stood on end as the mysterious Antelope continued to regard her. Then one of the Antelope's hooves reached out to unwind a bit of his cloak. He then placed his hoof on his mask and dragged the wooden object right off himself and kicking it down a nearby dune, revealing his real face: he was a Gemsbok. "My name is Faris. I am a Gemsbok. Not a grain of sand can shift in our desert nor a Creature walk among us without our knowing".

"Pretty sure of himself, isn't he?" whispered Rainbow to Fluttershy.

"And there's not a sound that can be made that we won't hear", said Faris with an edge in his voice that silenced any further mutterings.

"Pardon me, uh, Faris", asked Twilight, nervous that Faris may snap unexpectedly, "How do you know our language, Ponytalk"

"The settler Ponies taught those of us willing to know the language of the Ponies", replied Faris, "Just so we can communicate properly with each other. Sad to say, not all natives of the Tarko Desert know any words in your tongue"

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As soon as the sandstorm had arrived, it departed. The wind vanished. The night sky was clear and pierced with stars. It seemed to the 8 friends that Faris, the two other Gemsbok and the two Baboons looked at the stars not with wonder, but with a kind of purpose, as if they somehow spoke to him.

"Sir...please...what do you see?" asked Pinkie her fear of Faris's mysteriousness warring down with curiosity.

"My place is under the heavens. And with that, I find my direction", replied the Gemsbok.

"Direction?" said Twilight, interested in how stars were seen around here. She had, along with her 7 friends, been feeling rather lost since the sandstorm.

"Princess Celestia told me how to use a compass once", she explained to Faris, "But Spike and Griffy often lead the way with their good senses of smell"

"I'm not only talking about which way we travel", said Faris, "Direction is both inside and outside of us"

"But how can you know we're you're going if you stare at the stars, and not at the ground in front of you?" asked Spike.

Faris then suddenly smiled, for he was being asked by something that was NOT a Pony. He then halted and pointed up at the stars. "Do you see that sapphire-blue star sitting in that small ruby cluster? And do you see the line formed by those very bright stars over there?"

"I think so", Spike said uncertainly.

"I think I do", added Griffy. Faris then got more pleased that another non-Pony was asking questions.

"They are our guides", said Faris, "Here in the Tarko Desert, the land shifts with the winds but the stars remain constant. If we depended on the ground in front of us, as you outlanders suggest, we would be as lost as you are"

None of the 8 friends had ever thought of the night sky this way. For some of them, back home, the Trees would often show them the way, but here, they realized, Trees are a very rare sight.

"The stars are everything", Faris continued as if he heard the eight's thoughts.

"Would ya'll teach us that star trick of yours?" Applejack asked.

"There's no need for that practical nonsense", interjected Rarity, "You've all got me, and I'm related to some of the settler Ponies in this region, so I might have the same tracking skills as they do"

Rarity flipped her mane back and gazed coolly at Faris. "Though it may be difficult for you stargazers to understand, Ponies can often find their way with their eyes closed"

Faris looked at Rarity for a moment, and then turned; called something to the 2 other Gemsbok and 2 Baboons in that same Tarko Desert language that our heroes still could not understand and continued trekking.

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Suddenly, a dark portal from the realm of Kurayami opened up in front of them all. Faris somehow knew that it was evil. Out of the portal emerged a large, gray Creature resembling a Rhino without horns and a Cutie Mark of an axe followed by a tall, green Creature with four Spider-like legs, two Crab-like pincers, a curved, Unicorn Pony-like horn on its head and a Cutie Mark of a shovel.

"Chop and Digger!" shouted the 8 friends in fear.

"You know those Beings?" asked Faris.

"They're an Earth Pony and Unicorn Pony that got bitten some really big Ants and became these more nightmarish versions of their former selves", said Griffy.

"Whoa!" said the Rhino-like one, Chop, in his big and stupid-sounding voice, "Is this a wide open beach?"

"No, you idiot!", hissed the Alien-like one, Digger, in his scary, gurgling voice, "This is a desert, and looks like we found the Elements of Harmony right here"

"Battle positions!" shouted out Twilight and then she and her seven friends got ready to fight.

Faris called over to the 2 other Gemsbok and 2 Baboons in their Tarko language to also prepare for battle.

Chop tried to make a tremor by stomping his heavy hooves, but the dune he stood on collapsed and he slid down, actually enjoying the ride.

Digger tried firing a beam of destructive magic from his horn at the large group. But when he saw the Baboons pull out their long bladed swords, he got absolutely terrified and fell down the same dune where Chop had landed.

"For once I'm not the only one who messed up!" snorted Chop.

"Well the Primates' swords startled me!" snapped Digger.

As the two genetically-altered Ponies argued, half buried in the sand, the 8 friends, Faris and his 4 companions quickly retreated away.

_To Be Continued_


	9. The Camp of the Locals

The 13 Beings crossed the desert mostly in silence, but from time to time they'd stop and Faris would teach Spike and Griffy how to read the stars (though he never bothered to show any of the six Ponies how to read the stars). He showed the two how to see the Pelican carrying the Elephant in the stars, and the Lion, and the Rabbit with the Eel tail. Whenever they spotted, the Ponies would sort of walk a few feet away and sort of fix their gaze on the horizon, Rarity especially for she would wear an expression of supreme disinterest. Twilight would often wonder to herself if the Alicorns (Celestia's kind), the creaters of the universe, really watch over these dry lands, but she had to except the fact that they did watch over.

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After the 13 Creatures had gone some distance, they cleared a small rise. The 8 friends looked down and saw a firelit encampment. It seemed to be an enormous tent with a vast, golden canopy. The canopy looked like a softly lit cloud that had settled onto the desert.

"Is that your home?", asked Pinkie Pie.

"No", replied Faris, lifting up his front leg and waved it across the black expanse around them, "This is my home. My home is where I sleep and where I sleep is where I set my tent"

"But where do you set your tent?", asked Pinkie, confused.

"I set it where I sleep", said Faris with the first hint of a smile toward a Pony.

"But you must have some idea of where you are going", said Rarity, impatiently.

"Why should we Tarko Desert natives? If there's water and food and the embrace of our different kin, is one place better than the next?", replied Faris.

"Then why move at all?", asked Spike, "Why not just keep your tents where they are?"

"What?", said the Gemsbok, "And consider myself wiser than the stars that cross the sky? No. We desert-dwelling Beings move with from place to place because we follow the stars. That is our nature, especially for herbivores like us Antelope"

Here, Faris his attention toward Rarity. "Only fools believe themselves more important than their nature. Wouldn't you agree, wind-drinker of white and purple color?"

Rarity gazed off toward the camp, as if she had far better things to do than reply to Faris. But the others kept their gazes on the stars and some wondered if it was in their nature to wander like the indiginous Tarko Desert species or whether they were meant for their own natural lives that they grew up with.

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Meanwhile, back at the sight were Chop and Digger messed up, the two genetically-mutated Ponies were cleaning themselves off of sand.

"I'm tired Digger", moaned Chop, "Can we snooze right here for the night?"

"It appears to be absent of any desert predators", replied Digger, snapping his Crab-like pincers together while he was in thought, "We will do Kurayami's dead in the morning indeed"

And so the two settled down into the sand and fell asleep.

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The Ponies, with Griffy and Spike still on their backs, followed the 3 Gemsbok and 2 Baboons toward the camp. All of a sudden, a Dromedary Camel, who was standing guard by the entrance to the huge tent, stomped one of its hooves at the sight of the Ponies and made an aggresive snort.

"Why have you five returned with six Ponies? Not to mention a young Reptile and some Bird-Lion thing with them?", asked the Camel in that Tarko Desert language.

"Relax now", said Faris, "They were trapped in the Great Dead City and I felt bad for them all suffering in the sight of the Fenrirs"

"Well you should better keep them under control", snorted the Camel, "Or things will get ugly around here. It's a really good thing that my species does not normally hang out with you Gemsbok, Hamadryas Baboons and Kiangs. We are extremely more nomadic, like the Golden Jackals"

"Well then why are you volunteering as a guard for the night?", asked Faris with a smile.

"I just need some time away from my kin, for my siblings are driving me crazy with their complaints on how they should store fat in their humps", moaned the Camel in misery, "Anyways, proceed, but keep those Ponies under control"

As the 13 Beings entered the large tent, the Camel with emotional problems unexpectedly let out a loud, foul-smelling fart. Rarity jumped from the sound and smell.

"Please show self control!", wailed Rarity.

The Camel did not know any words of the Pony language, but he could clearly tell that Rarity was complaining about his flatulence.

"Wow", said Griffy as soon as everyone came inside the camp, "That was one rude Camel, I couldn't understand what you and him were saying Faris, but I can tell he was not too happy"

"Camels can be that way", said Faris, "They are even more nomadic than us Gemsbok, including the Baboons and Kiangs. They are as just as nomadic as the Jackals. But every now and then, one or two will come to us for an emotional reason and stay for a little while, protecting us as guards"

"From Fenrirs?", asked the eight friends together.

"Yes, them and, well...others", Faris responded mysteriously, "For example...elongated, serpentine, flightless cousins of your scaly friend"

"Sounds like he means Desert Dragons", said Spike to Twilight, "They're a more sneakier species of Dragon than I"

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The eight friends now found themselves beneath the golden canopy, inside what felt like a very large tent. A faint smell of spices hung in the air. Candles and oil lamps flickered against walls of saffron, burgundy and azure fabric. The tent was filled to bursting with Hamadryas Baboons, Gemsbok and Kiangs, all speaking to each other in soft murmurs. They were lounging on multicolored pillows set on a patchwork of carpets that covered the sand.

The 8 friends could feel their tails twitch with excitement as they all tried to take in all the marvels before them. There were silver vessels (some filled with fruit for all herbivores and omnivores and some filled with pieces of meat for all carnivores and omnivores), and female dancers of all three species wearing veils, and muscian Baboons who sat on a thick, fat cushion, playing stringed instruments, flutes and drums and some of them were singing songs in that Tarko Desert language. Behind the muscians, sitting on an even bigger, fatter cushion was a group of elderly Gemsbok, Kiangs and Baboons, wearing huge, round turbans (more cloth-like versions on the Gemsbok elders).

Glancing around at the reclining local species, Twilight realized that most of them were gazing expectantly at the turbaned elders.

"_It's as though everyone is waiting for something about to begin_", she thought.

Confused, she turned to Faris. "What are they looking at?"

"Hush, now, come, there's some room over there. Now keep your voice down, mostly because I don't want anyone to notice the Ponies I have shown mercy to", replied Faris.

Gingerly, they picked their way through the audience. A Kiang in a long, flowing headdress offered them their choice of seats. The six Ponies and Spike settled on their knees on a bunch of wide, silk-covered pillows, Spike asked Faris if her could sit on his back to get a good view and Faris kindly agreed, and Griffy perched on a tall coushin in order to see over the heads of the locals.

At the sound of a low whistle, everyone in the tent fell silent. And as if by one breath, the flames on all the candles oil lamps went out.

"You are all just in time for our monthly night show", whispered Faris to the eight friends, "That's what's going on right now"

_To Be Continued_


	10. The Treasure Inside the Dryness

The 8 friends just sat there in the dark with Faris and the rest of the crowd, wondering what kind of show this was going to be. From out of the darkness came a high, shrill voice. It was impossible to tell whether it was male or female, but this is what it said (translated to Ponytalk by Faris so the eight could understand): "We know it now as the Great Dead City, but it was once called Haazina: the treasure inside the dryness. The outer walls were covered in gold, and the buildings were richly studded with precious gems. And the gold and gems of Haazina burned so brilliantly in the sun, that the city could be seen glowing from one horizon to the other"

The Baboon musicians to play a quiet, almost eerie melody. The eight friends' eyes widened as the darkness was suddenly filled with light, and the silhouette of the city appeared before them, as if magically suspended in the air.

The unseen storyteller continued: "Although it is true that Haazina is dead now, it was not always so. Tonight, we have set our tent near the Great Dead City and it calls on us to tell its story so that we may never forget. It is known that what made Haazina more precious than any other known city under the stars was not the gold or the jewels of the city, but its beloved ruler: King Kairlamah"

The silhouette of a Hamadryas Baboon wearing a pyramid-like crown appeared before the crowd, walking as quickly as it could, as if it was trying to say hello.

The unseen storyteller continued: "All who knew this Baboon glady sang his praise. It was said that he was more giving than the sun and far more compassionate. His generosity was so great that he refused to drink until he knew that no one was thirsty. He refused to eat until he knew that no one was hungry. He couldn't even sleep until all were sleeping. King Kairlamah made peace with the desert. The winds never raged inside Haazina and the water inside its golden walls was so cool and honey-sweet"

The eight's nostrils flared as a light honey scent filled the air inside the tent. Suddenly, the silhouettes of two Hamadryas Baboons with swords appeared near the silhouette of the king and they bowed to him.

"Now, this king was blessed with two strong and hansome sons", spoke the storyteller, "And this comforted him greatly. He felt that as he grew old his beloved city, and all who lived there, would be loved by his sons as well as by himself. Many years passed, each as gentle as the one before it, until finally the king knew that soon the wind would take his soul. Kairlamah summoned his two sons to his deathbed and whispered his last words to them: Haazina is like a fire in the desert. And like a fire in a barren place with so little to feed it, it is a fragile thing. You two must tend to this city carefully. Feed it with the generosity of your hearts and nurture it with your compassionate wisdom. Do this and you will find comfort and happiness here always"

The silhouette of Kairlamah then stopped moving, as if he just instanty died and floated up into the sky and vanished.

"But, of course, I would not be telling you this story if that was how things came to pass", spoke the storyteller as the silhouettes of the two brothers started to fight each other with their swords, "Quite obviously, they did not. Upon King Kairlamah's death, his two sons quarreled. They were not willing to share Haazina. They did not tend their magnificent like a fragile fire. They did not feed it with their generosity nor nurture it with compassionate wisdom. Instead, each tried to claim it as his own. And as we all know, when two fight over a single burning log, both end up getting burned. In time, the brothers divided the city in two, and each brought in fierce Fenrirs to protect his half"

The 8 friends began to stir with fear as the giant silhouette of a Fenrir Wolf appeared before them. The eight glanced arouns nervously. None of the other Animals seemed frightened. But our 8 heroic friends shuddered together as magic and reality became as inseparable as music and song.

"The two brothers waged war", the storyteller continued, "Each tried to wrest control of Haazina from the other. The fighting raged on for years. Much of the coty was destoryed and many lives were lost, but the brothers remained stubborn. Each refused to give in to the other. They called upon what they believed was dark magic, but it was really to dark forces of the great evil one known as Kurayami, and each summoned certain Demons from Kurayami's realm to join their armies. But of course, these were evil Beings who cannot be controlled by mortals, for they feed primarily on destruction. Thus the winds came"

At this, a wail of howling wind was heard. The silhouettes of what looked like a Demonic Dragon, a Demonic Chimera, a Demonic Griffon and a Demonic Antelope appeared. The 8 friends became greatfully terrified.

"Winds so violent", the storyteller went on, "They stripped the gold from the walls ripped the gems from the buildings and scattered them through the desert. The water turned sour, and those who survived the battles were forced to flee their once beautiful city. It is said they escaped to the deep caves near the coastline, and that their descendants are there to this day, dwelling with those dark spirits and delving even deeper into what is forbidden. The two brothers, however, stubbornly stayed behind with their Fenrirs, neither willing to surrender. That is how they grew old. And that is how they died. At least their bodies were eaten by the starving Canines, whose offspring, to this day, prowl the streets of the lifeless city, reminding us so that we may never forget Haazina's legacy of greed"

Suddenly, someone let out a scream as a giant silhouette of one of the Fenrirs leapt out of the darkness and began to slowly prowl the room. The 8 friends watched its huge shape passing over the wide-eyed faces.

A loud growling and a baleful howl filled the tent. The eight felt a jolt of panic. The Elephant-sized, bone-crushing Wolf was pursued by even more Demons before it suddenly leapt straight up and vanished. There was a moment of stunned silence, then a great burst of light. An explosion of colorful sparks filled the tent with a crackling chaos of color.

Again there was silence, for a long breath, then riotous foot-stomping and and different species calling erupted from every corner of the tent. But the eight friends were very frightened, especially with seeing the flecks of colored light. Griffy had already swooped out of his sitting place and rushed to Fluttershy for comfort and Fluttershy was already hugging him, due to her being very frightened as well. Spike was already hugging Twilight's neck from fear as well. Rainbow, Applejack, Pinkie and Rarity had already jumped to their feet and were trembling, as in a cold wind.

"What are you doing?", asked Faris in a grave voice, "What troubles you, outlanders?"

The eight friends opened their eyes and found that the candle and oil lamp lights were lit again. They felt a little embaressed, but they decided to explain of what they just whitnessed.

_To Be Continued_


	11. Illusions & Dresses

"What is wrong with you outlanders?", questioned Faris, "You've never seen a show being perfomed by illusions?"

"Illusions?", asked Rainbow, "Is that all they were? Man, that freaked me out. Oh wait, I wasn't scared, I was just uuuuhhhhh...shaking because it's fun"

"Of course you were", said Faris sarcastically, "Who would like to go and see how this show tonight was being performed?"

Twilight, Spike and Griffy decided to go and check it out while their five friends would stay back and enjoy the cushions and cuizine.

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"I do not believe that you eight outlanders thought that was all real", said Faris as he lead the three to the other end of the tent, "It was part of the performance clearly"

He lead the three toward the elders with the giant round turbans.

"These are our masters of illusion", said Faris, "It was their skill you saw"

One of the elderly female Kiangs, the one who wore the most elaborate female headdress, gazed at the Pony, Dragon and Griffin with shrewed eyes. "So we performed and you believed", she said softly, in perfect Ponytalk.

The three, unsure of what exactly happened, said nothing.

"Show them, Durrah", Faris said.

"Watch carefully", Durrah told Twilight, Spike and Griffy. Then she tugged on an almost invisible thread hanging from the wall behind her with her teeth. A large panel of pale silk dropped from the canopy ceiling and rippled lightly in the breeze.

Durrah nodded to one of the other turbaned elders (a male Baboon specifically), and the fabric was lit from behind by a "magic lantern". This was a large box elaborately carved with the faces of Animals, their mouths and eyes wide open. Inside the Animals' eyes and mouths were glass lenses, lit from within by candles. Glass plates with images of the story painted on them were then slid into the magic lantern. The image on the first plate was the silhouette of Haazina that had begun the performance and the second and third plates wer those of King Kairlamah and his two sons.

A Gemsbok illusionist opened the stopper of a delicate glass vessel with his teeth, and the scent of honey filled the air.

"And the Fenrirs and the other Beasts?", asked the Twilight, Spike and Griffy, not quite convinced. After all, they had leapt through the tent. They hadn't been images on a screen.

Durrah pulled another thread with her teeth. This time a trapdoor in the canopy ceiling opened, and a huge, very realistic Fenrir puppet dropped down and began bounding through the tent. One of the other Kiang illusionists pulled another thread with its teeth, and a second trapdoor opened, releasing a few fantastical-looking puppets resembling Creatures from mythical tales.

Twilight, Spike and Griffy watched, amazed. The puppets looked so real. Applejack, Pinkie Pie, Fluttershy, Rainbow Dash and Rarity noticed the illusions' secrets being revealed too.

"I somehow knew that they were illusions", said Rarity.

But one thing still troubled Twilight mostly. "And what about that explosion of colorful light?", she asked.

"Come", said one of the Baboon illusionists in Ponytalk, "Let's go outside into the night glow and I'll show you, it's kind of dangerous to do it indoors more than once"

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Twilight and the Baboon walked out the flap-like door of tent to find that same grumpy Camel sound asleep.

"Camels are heavy sleepers", said the Baboon, "So he shall not hear the sparks exploding"

The Baboon dug a tiny hole in the sand and found some really tiny and colorful pebbles.

"Now we don't really have an official name for these mineral", said the Primate, "But I like to call these Spark Pebbles"

He then held the Spark Pebbles in one hand, crunched them all together by making a fist and finally throwing them into the air in which they exploded into blue and red sparks of light.

"Is that magic?", said Twilight, intrigued, "Like what my race of Pony, Unicorn Pony, can do?"

"No", replied the Monkey, "It is clearly science"

Twilight and the Baboon walked back into the tent.

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As soon as Twilight got back to her seven friends, she could not help but notice that Rarity was absent.

"Where'd she go this time?", asked Twilight, a little annoyed.

"She said something about going behind the changing curtains", said Griffy, "My understanding is that the locals use whatever's behind that curtain to get prepared for non-illusion shows"

Suddenly, Rarity came out of the curtained room, wearing a female Tarko Desert dancer outfit. Her four ankles had shiny bracelets around each one, a jade-made medalio necklace around her neck and a veil around most of her face except her eyes.

"What do you all think?", Rarity asked her friends, all 7 of them giving wide-eyed expressions, "I'm already getting a feel for Tarko Desert culture"

"My Rarity", said Twilight, "That outfit does look stunning"

"Ah think ya'll have over done yerself", said Applejack.

"You just look like the same old Rarity", said Rainbow Dash.

"Wow!", exclaimed Pinkie Pie, "It's really pretty!"

"It does look quite nice", said Fluttershy softly.

"Beautiful!", said Spike, his pupils in the shape of hearts and his tongue hanging out.

Griffy just gave himself a facepalm, knowing that Rarity is still going over the top. He, in addition, bonked Spike's noggin to stop himfrom fantasizing about Rarity.

Faris appeared to hang out with the 8 "outlanders", only to be halted by the sight of Rarity in a female Tarko Desert outfit.

"I see you have a real taste for our culture, miss Rarity", said the Gemsbok with an "embaressed to be in public" face.

_To Be Continued_


	12. Nightmares Come Alive

As all the residents in the tent started to settle down and sleep for the night, the eight friends decided that they should probably rest with these local nomads just so they can be ready in the morning and not wake up in an uncomfortable place.

"I still love the taste of that Fennec Fox meat in those food trays", said Spike, strangely not asleep yet, "And man, were all those Desert Locusts on sticks tasty"

"Will you PLEASE go to sleep already, Spike?", growled Rainbow Dash, Trying to hold her temper.

But as they all drifted off to sleep, little did any of them realize that the Mosquito-like Demon, Tsarog, was hovering over head of the tent. She whistled and Chop and Digger walked over the dune towards her and the tent, all sleep-eyed.

"Tsarog", moaned Chop, "Can we please get this attack over with, I'm in need for nappies"

"Nappies?", questioned Digger with a tired voice, "How immature can you get? Yet you do have a point there. Tsarog, do you have any idea what time it is?"

Tsarog explained to the two of them that once her nightmare-inducing plan was complete, the two genetically-mutated Ponies could go back to sleep.

"Time to inject some horrifying nightmares", snickered Tsarog, "That'll totally keep the 8 represenatives of the Elements of Harmony's spirits down and fail to complete their quest. Now wait here Chop, you too Digger"

The she-Demon did her evil laugh and quickly took the form of a small gray cloud to seemingly fit in to the enviroment.

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Tsarog warped into the tent, every living thing was asleep. She decided to make Spike her first target. She immediately warped into his mind to give him nightmares.

Deep inside Spike's mind as he slept, he was having a "happy" dream that he was in a meadow and he was rushing with happiness towards Rarity, who was also running towards him. Suddenly, the beautiful meadow became a tall mountain with boiling lava leaking from its sides. Spike attempted to rush to Rarity and save her life, but he was suddenly stopped by an enormous, terrifying-looking version of Griffy that landed right in between the two. Griffy was enormous, the size of an adult Mountain Dragon, and had glowing yellow eyes.

"YOOOOUUUU SHALL NOT!", bellowed the gigantic Griffy as he held up an enormous sword high in the air, "PAAAAAAAASSSS!"

And he then impaled the sword into the ground, causing a massive explosion of lava to take place.

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Tsarog then exited Spike's mind and went into Griffy's mind as he slept also.

Griffy was dreaming about hanging out back in the Ponyville park with his seven friends, gossiping and joking. It was very happy until his friends then glared at him angrily.

"What's going on?", asked Griffy, worried.

"We just realized the EverFree Forest is cursed!", snapped Spike.

"And so are you!", hissed Rainbow Dash.

"No!", weaped Griffy, tears of a broken heart begining to shed.

All of a sudden, all the residents of Ponyville (Ponies and non-Ponies) all gathered around Griffy, telling him to leave forever because of his origins in the EverFree Forest.

"GE OUT!", shouted the mayor, "AND NEVER COME BACK! YOU CURSED EVERFREE FOREST MONSTER!"

Griffy attempted to fly away, but ultimately stopped by Fluttershy, looking very aggitated.

"Leave forever", she snarled.

Griffy heart began to sink and break at the sight of his closest female friend being rude to him.

"You don't belong anywhere!", shouted Twilight.

"Who needs something from the EverFree Forest anyways!", snapped Pinkie.

Griffy fell to the ground, crying his poor heart out.

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Tsarog then exited Griffy's mind and decided to get the Ponies next time, from causing nightmares is extremely hard work for a Demon. She warped out of the tent and took her huge, green, Mosquito-like form again.

"Chop! Digger!", shouted Tsarog, startling the two Ponies to wake up whil starting to doze off, "We can cause more havoc later, I need to replenish my power of nightmare-inducing"

Chop and Digger just walked away over the dunes, still sleepy, and collapsed from being tired. Tsarog just wapred away, but she'd be back.

Back inside the tent, Griffy woke up in a sweat while Spike woke up in a pant.

"What a heart-breaking nightmare", said Griffy, releaved that it was only a bad dream.

"You're not a monster Griffin trying to seperate me from Rarity!", said Spike.

"I'm not a Monster, kid", said Griffy, "But I do try and seperate you from Rarity, now let's go back to sleep"

_To Be Continued_


	13. Chieftain Dosolata

The next morning, the eight friends woke up to see all the local species in the tent were slowly starting to pack up for it was getting to that time that they all must move to another location (since they are nomads).

"Pardon me, Miss Sparkle", said Faris the Gemsbok to Twilight, "But before you and your 7 friends join us on our next trek to another area in the desert, our chieftain desires to meet one of you, the strange outlander visitors who made your bed in the Great Dead City"

He led Twilight to a small chamber set off from the rest of the tent by hanging tapestries. "These are the quarters of our chieftain". At Twilight's surprised expression he explained, "Though our camp doesn't approach the glory of ancient Haazina, our chieftain aspires to live with the same simplicity and generosity as King Kairlamah. Go on in, he's waiting for you"

xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

Twilight looked vervously to Faris, hoping he'd join her, but Gemsbok guide gestured for her to go in alone. Twilight took deep breath and entered. She found herself standing on a blue capet in a simple room. There were cushions, carved wooden caskets, a low table with assorted silver vessels, several lit lampsticks and two Kiangs, one large, one small, with their backs to her. They were sitting together on a chest. The larger of them turned. He was holding a dagger in his teeth. He had a belt around his waist with a sword tucked in for safe keeping. His cloak formed a train behind him. And his turban, while not as large as those of the illusionists, was still impressive. He placed his dagger down on the low table and motioned Twilight forward.

"You must be one of those 8 new outlanders, Twilight Sparkle", he said, "I am Dosolata, and this is my son, Keshuff. We were just deciding on this map here on where to set this camp next and I was holding my dagger so that I would poke a hole in the map on where our official location shall be, and that has already been done" He then approached Twilight. "Tell me, what led you and your seven friends to sleep with the bone-crushing Fenrirs, armed with nothing more than a saddle bag and yourselves?" When Twilight didn't answer, the Kiang barked, "SPEAK!"

"N-no, I mean, y-yes, your majesty", Twilight finally stammered, not knowing what to call him.

"I am but the chieftain of these Baboons, Gemsbok and my fellow Kiangs. The only majesty we have here are the stars overhead", replied Dosolata.

"The rugs are very nice, too", said Twilight, stroking the carpet she was standing on with her hoof, hoping that that was the right thing to say, and feeling her fur settle a bit.

Suddenly Keshuff trotted over to her and stood very close, staring and sniffing at the Pony's fur. Twilight almost blushed at this attention, but she remembered to keep her head on straight, remembering that she was a Pony and he was not. "What's in there?", the chieftain's son demanded, pointing at the saddle bag Twilight had on her side.

Twilight chose her words carefully. "An important object me and my friends need for our journey here in your desert home"

"Well let's see that object, since it's so important", said Keshuff. Twilight used her magic to carefully telekinize CHIP on the rug at her feet.

"Mmm", murmured Keshuff, tapping at CHIP's buttons, exploring the gadget's digital world, "Highly-advanced technology, eh? We Tarko natives do not much use in things like this and..."

"All systems fully operative", spoke CHIP in its computer voice with its British accent.

"Amazing!", exclaimed Keshuff, marveling at the device's ability to speak, "What is this?"

"It's-", Twilight began.

"I want it", said the chieftain's son, and started to grab it with his teeth.

Instinctively, Twilight quickly telekinized the precious gadget and had it float high above their heads. "I can't-"

"Give it to me!", Keshuff demanded shrilly.

"But I...you don't understand", stammered Twilight, reluctant to give away probably the one thing that would help her and her 7 friends on their quest and return them all home to Ponyville.

Dosolata's angry voice boomed as he commanded, "KESHUFF, OUTSIDE!"

Cringing, Keshuff quickly obeyed his father and rushed out of the tent, leaving Twilight alone with Dosolata, who snorted fiercely. His eyes blazing with fury, he rose to all four of his hooves and strode toward Twilight who had just at that moment, telekinized CHIP back into her saddle bag. The curved blade in Dosolata's belt blinked yellow in the candlelight, then turned black as Dosolata moved a little away from the candles.

Twilight began to tremble. Her tail bristled. She wanted to run, to hide. But she just crouched there, silent and terrified.

Finally Dosolata spoke in a voice both low and cold. "Come here"

Twilight slowly crept forward.

"I've done something wrong. Please tell me what it is", she begged.

"Look away!", demanded Dosolata as he slowly circled the young Pony. "We saved you from the Fenrirs and welcomed you into our camp, and yet you deny my son's simple request"

Puzzled by the Kiang's anger, Twilight looked at her saddle, remembering CHIP was now stored back in there. "This?", she asked, looking back at the chief, "But I didn't mean-"

"Silence!" Then Dosolata's voice became dangerously quiet. "Perhaps you slept during the story told last night. Perhaps it wasn't made clear to you that we of the Tarko Desert have no choice but to share everything we own with each other. It's either that or die" He was then standing on a wooden chest. "Did you come here to die, book-reading outlander?"

Twilight crouched even lower. "N-n-no sir", she managed to shutter, her mouth so dry she could barely move her tongue, "I'll gladly give you anything I have, but if I gave away CHIP, I give away me and my friends' only chance of getting around when saving the world and protecting others like me"

"Others like you", said the chieftain with disgust, "Then what am I?"

"You?", Twilight asked.

"Are you and I so different that you must feel so alone?", replied Dosolata.

"But I'm not alone, plus I'm from another place and-"

"Look so different?", interrupted Dosolata, believing he had finished Twilight's thought, "When the stars look down at us, do we appear so different to them? And when we thirst, is our thirst different? Our hunger? Or maybe when it's when we celebrate a great joy. Perhaps our happiness is different? Is that what you are trying to say?"

Ashamed and confused, Twilight stared down at the rug she knelt on. Woven into the fabric were yellow stars in a swirling sea of cobalt blue. She felt as though she were no longer in her body, but had somehow fallen into a small but very shiny azure star in the rug. She felt herself moving, slowly swirling in the indigo sky. And then, she heard a very faint voice. "Listen", it said. It sounded as if it were coming from someplace very far away. "The words are true".

Twilight looked up at Dosolata. The distant voice hadn't come from him because the chieftain was staring at her, waiting for an answer.

"How are you and I so different that you feel so seperate?", demanded Dosolata.

"_If I really do give CHIP away, then the mission will be really hard to complete_", she thought to herself.

Twilight then, hesitantly, started to speak up. "We're both Equines so we're not so different", she admitted quietly, "Please, tell your son that I'm sorry and you may give CHIP to him"

The chieftain looked at Twilight's bag but then looked away without even glancing at it. "Keep it. I want something else"

Twilight blinked in confusion. "I also have a compass and a map", she offered, "But Faris showed me and my 7 pals how you use the stars to find direction. So you may not have any use for them"

"I don't want your north-pointing needle or your land-drawing", said Dosolata, looking at his sword, still tunked into his belt.

"Then what?", asked Twilight.

"THIS!", Dosolata yowled, leaping into the air. He quickly pulled his sword out of his belt with his teeth. The word flashed and cut a bloody nick in Twilight's ear.

Twilight yelped and neighed in shock. Her ear stung and she felt herself bleeding, yet she knew she wasn't seriously hurt.

"That is to remind you that from this day forward you must never again act as if you are alone. You may go now. Dosolata sheathed his sword and turned away.

Twilight returned to the main area of the tent and back to her friends.

_To Be Continued_


	14. Danger on the Horizon

"What happened to your ear, Twilight?", asked Spike, "There's a tiny cut through it"

"Chieftain Dosolata is a pretty bizarre Kiang", replied Twilight, "My ear will heal eventually"

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The eight watched, while eating some food, as the camp was being picked up. They watched as carpets were rolled, and silver vessels and musical instruments were tucked into chests. Cushions were stacked and tied in great canvas bundles, which were then tied onto the sides of the Kiangs and Gemsbok but not the Baboons. Some of the Baboons stood on the Ungulates' backs, carefully folding up the great golden canopy.

The packing was suddenly interrupted by the fear-filled cries of Faris and Keshuff (the chief's son) zooming toward the camp after scouting for a few minutes. They stopped and shouted out an urgent warning in the Tarko language with fear.

"Wu-phet Deeden!", he shouted out in fear, "Wu-phet Deeden heya mohezheema!"

The whole camp was now raging with activity. Young and old, male and female rushed about, abandoning all preparations. Pots and chests tumbled everywhere. The adult females, children and old ones scrambled for the safety of the tent that was still up.

"What's going on?", asked Rainbow Dash, "Are those Fenrir Wolves attacking? 'Cause I'll show them how powerful a dive-bombing attack can be!"

"Something with venom is approaching", said Faris to the gang, "These Creatures are much smaller than a Fenrir, but their acidic spray is able to fall a Fenrir!"

"What sorts of Creatures are they?", asked Fluttershy, "Maybe I can stop them from being bullies"

"They are attacking because they are hungry", snapped Faris, "Not because they are jerks"

Fluttershy gulped when she realized she was dealing with predators relying on instinct.

"Death Worms!", said the Gemsbok with fear in his voice, "Follow me and Keshuff, and we can spot the Worms before they reach us"

xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

The eight friends followed the Gemsbok and Kiang out beyond protected the area where the tent was. Keshuff held a sword in his mouth and Faris had his serious game face on. The eight friends noticed that the two's gazes were fixed on the distance.

"Where are these so called Death Worms?", Griffy asked Faris, who was to busy swinging his head from side to side to answer the question, just to ward off any sudden Death Worm attacks. All the eight friends saw was that the sky was a bruised gray, the sun still hanging just bellow the horizon.

"That", said Keshuff with the sword in his mouth, his voice tight with fear, "Spike, Griffy, get on the Ponies' backs, now!"

Spike scrambled up on Twilight's back and Griffy scrambled up on Fluttershy's back. Following the Ungulates' gazes, they saw an enormous, dark dust cloud moving quickly over the dunes. Another sandstorm? Looking more carefully at the cloud, the eight friends realized it was actually a swarm of 5-6 foot long, pink, Earthworm/Millipede-like Creatures with long, fang-like teeth. They even had Centipede-like legs running down the sides of their bodies and some of them were diving into the ground and poping back up. They were slithering toward the camp. Faris, Keshuff and the eight friends were able to pick out 20, maybe 30 of them, their creepy-looking, fanged mouths opening from time to time, shooting a sort of green misty stuff (cleary their venom).

"What are those varmints?", asked Applejack.

"Those things", said Faris, "Are the Death Worms". The Gemsbok scout's eyes darted around for a way out. But all around them there was a commotion of voices raised in battle cries and the metal clang of swords being drawn and sharpened as well as Gemsbok horned being sharped.

"We have to get out of here!", Spike cried. But his voice was drowned out by a vicious hissing as the huge Worm-like Creatures attacked in a choasmof teeth and natural vapor acid and nipping furiously.

All around them was a massive battle between these kind sentients of the Tarko Desert and Death Worms, local boneless predators. One instant Fluttershy had one of the Worms coming toward her; the next it was hissing past, a dead young Baboon caught in its ugly mouth.

"How dare you kill that innocent little Monkey", said Fluttershy, trying to sound strict. But the Death Worm just hissed at her to send the message that it was not being mean, it was just following its instinct. The message was sent pretty clear to poor little Fluttershy. "You see what habitats like this can do?", asked Griffy, still clinging onto Fluttershy's back.

The Gemsbok, Baboons and Kiangs fought bravely. A number of Baboon warriors rode on the Kiang warriors, brandishing swords, bows and javelins. The rest of the Baboon warriors were mounted on the spear-horned Gemsok warriors, darting in and out, spattered with blood and slimy Worm skin. But the Death Worms mainly attacked in either waves or from under the ground. One of the Gemsbok stumbled, tossing its Baboon rider into one of the Worm's gaping maw. The terrible sound of screams, hisses and screeches was deafening.

With wild eyes of an instinctual group of Ponies protecting their herds, the AJ and Rainbow charged into the fray, biting and rearing. The rest of the gang could hardly believe that their two tomboyish friends were fighting these huge Invertebrates to fiercely. Applejack bucked at a Worm behind her, crushing its face, and Rainbow Dash did the same thing to another. AJ's hooves slashed, and one of the Worms' body broke in half. Rainbow bit, and a Worm's throat was torn out. Suddenly, one of the more bigger Death Worms attempted to spray that misty green acid on both of them. They both dodged it, but both fell into the sand.

_To Be Continued_


	15. More Fights

"We got to get out of here!", shouted out Rainbow Dash.

"Let's get a move on now!", shouted Applejack to the rest of the gang.

As the eight began to rush away from the huge battle, a sword suddenly whizzed right past their heads and sank deep into one of the Worms, dropping it instantly.

"Let's move guys!", yelled Twilight.

"Wait!", cried Spike, "I want to help, too!". He dashed to the dead Death Worm carcass and tried to yank the great sword from its underbelly. But the sword was far too heavy and stuck too deep.

Twilight rushed forward and telekinized Spike onto her back. In an instant, the sword was torn loose from the Worm. Spike almost dropped it, then grabbed hold of it with all his strength. Although he knew he wasn't strong enough to wield it, he held on to it, shoulders aching as held it low to the ground while trying to hang onto his best friend at the same time. And then through the confusion and the dust, the eight friends saw Chieftain Dosolata.

The Kiang chieftain lay on the ground, one leg bleeding and useless, his sword broken beside him. A huge Death Worm crept over to him, raised the upper half of its body up to look threatening, and got ready to spray acid and strike with its fangs.

Ears flattened, Twilight bore down on them, and Spike knew what he must do. "Chief! Here!" With all his small strength, he tossed him the sword as Twilight raced past. They then saw Dosolata catch the sword with his mouth. Then a lightning flash, and the Death Worm crumbled in a heap.

Twilight then doubled back a gallop to Dosolata.

"Madame Sparkle...small Dragon", shouted Dosolata as they approached, "My life is in debt to you. But this battle is not yours, nor is it for you. Now go!"

At that very moment, Keshuff appeared on the scene concerned for his father's life. "But father, you can't die yet-", panted Keshuff.

"You must go with the 8 outlanders to help them on their quest", cried Dosolata, gesturing away from the battle, "Do not disobey me, son!"

Faris suddenly showed up on the scene. He told Keshuff in the Tarko language that this will be a ritous thing to do, letting a hero like the chieftain sacrifising himself. Faris and Keshuff then rushed over to the eight friends and told them to keep running away from the battle and that the two would join them on their journey to the settlement of Sandoraia.

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Meanwhile, some few miles away, those two pathetic mutated Ponies, Chop and Digger, were just sitting on top of a few boulders, deciding their next move.

"We could try and ask a local predator to slaughter them for us", suggested Digger, snapping his Crab-like pincers while he thought.

"But I think that rainbow-haired girl is hot, Digger", said Chop, stupidly forgeting their evil mission.

"Well I believe the book-loving Twilight and the farm girl, Applejack are adorable females and, WAIT A MINUTE!", said Digger, "Why am I suddenly encouraging your hormonal behaviour all of of a sudden?"

"Because you think those hero girls are cute", grinned Chop.

"You and I are a year or two older than them, but that is okay. ANYWAYS! Why don't we just use the newest spell I just recently learned while practicing my natural Unicorn Pony magic", said Digger.

"I could just make a tremor with my natural Earth Pony strength", suggested Chop.

"New dark death spell it is", interrupted Digger.

Chop then got a little angry at Digger. "You always have the better ideas than I!"

"Because you are the bron while I am the brain", replied Digger with a mad expression from annoyance.

"Who needs you anyways?", snorted Chop.

"Ditto", hissed Digger.

**(The following is a spoof-type song of "Who Needs You?" from "The Land Before Time 4: Journey Through the Mists")**

[Digger]:

I need you like a pain in the head

[Chop]:

And I need you like a Tick in my bed

[Digger]:

You constantly trip over the hoof you use to walk

[Both]:

Who needs you? Not me

[Chop]:

I need you like an ache in the gut

[Digger]:

Oh yeah? And I need you like a kick in the butt!

You truly disgrace your Earth Pony race, smashing things harder than a rock

[Both]:

Who needs you? Not me

[Chop]:

Who needs you?

You creepy crawly Steed! You're uglier than your Unicorn Pony kin

You have entirely green skin!

[Digger]:

And who need you?

Your spine's your finest feature indeed, you have gray skin and you are a bore

Dragging your big hooves on the floor

[Chop]:

Oh I need you like pebble in my hoof, who knows

[Digger]:

And I need you like a punch in the nose!

I'm shocked and ashamed by your behaviour

[Chop]:

Don't try and be nice, 'cause that won't save you!

[Both]:

I'm better off without you, I can see!

So who needs you? Not me!

[Digger]:

I need you like a cold in July

[Chop]:

And I need you like a whack in the eye

[Digger]:

Of all the dumb Ponies, not a single one precedes you

[Both]:

Who needs you? Not me

[Chop]:

I need you like I need a disease!

[Digger]:

And I need you like the sun needs to freeze!

For quickness of mind, a rock outruns you

[Both]:

Who needs you? Not me

[Chop]:

Who needs you?

You cross-eyed crazy Spider-like Critter! You make so much smart talk!

And you're legs move creepy when they walk

[Digger]:

And who needs you?

You fat-hoofed, bulky quitter, you're stupid and can be mad

Because you are as ugly as a Rhino's hornless grand-dad!

[Chop]:

Oh I need you like I need to rot my teeth!

[Digger]:

I lift a rock and find you underneath

I'm deeply upset by your demeanor

[Chop]:

I know I can be mean, but you're de-mean-or

[Both]:

No more unlikely pair could ever be!

[Digger]:

The word is incompatability!

[Chop]:

Not only that, we don't get along, you see!

[Both]:

So who needs you?

Except the race of Pony that breeds you

Who needs you?

[Chop]:

Not me!

[Digger]:

Not me!

[Chop]:

Not me!

[Digger]:

Not me!

[Both]:

Not me!

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All of a sudden a Death Worm emerged right out of the dune closest to the pair and hissed, liquid acid dripping from its gaping maw.

"RUN!", shouted out Digger in fear and the two genetic mutatant Ponies ran off in fear as the Worm burrowed after them, "WE ARE STILL USING THAT DEATH SPELL I KNOW!"

_To Be Continued_


	16. Illusions vs Real Magic

The eight friends, now accompanied by Faris and Keshuff, trekked far away from the battle. Poor Keshuff was seriously worried that his father may have been killed by the Death Worms. The rest of the group could tell why he had such a sad expression.

"If your dad is dead", said Twilight, hoping the adolescent Kiang would cheer up, "Than you should be the chieftain now, and you can always remember him"

"She's rahght, ya'll get the point?", added Applejack.

Keshuff just sighed and slowly nodded in agreement.

"Now if we can be confident for a while", said Faris, "We all have a long walk in order to reach the Pony settlement"

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After another mile or two of traveling, the 10 travelers spotted what looked like another tent, except it was much smaller than the last one. There was also a sign hanging over the tent's entrance that had Tarko writing on it. The group moved toward the tent and Faris and Keshuff read the sign carefully.

"Oh great", sighed Faris, "It's the traveling show of those two rogues"

"Pardon?", asked the eight friends.

"A while back", said Keshuff, "There were these two illusionists who worked for us, Seehari the Baboon and Mellaaun the Gemsbok, but they were to boastful about how they were at illusions that we had to throw them out. They kept passing their illusions off as real magic. Now they perform for Camels, Jackals and the settler Ponies"

The tent door suddenly flung open out poked the heads of the two socalled "magicians", Seehari the Hamadryas Baboon and Mellaaun the Gemsbok.

"Come one, come all!", the two anounced in the Tarko language, "Come and see the amazing Seehari and Mellaaun, THAT'S US!"

"You are not fooling us", said Faris with an unamused face, "Now we need your help to get these 8 outlanders to Sandoraia"

"But don't these outlanders want a show first?", asked Seehari.

"I agree", added Mellaaun, "They could use a taste of non-story entertainment, found only in the Tarko Desert"

Keshuff and Faris looked at each other with unamused expressions. Then they looked at the eight friends and told them that they would have to sit through a boring illusion show.

"By the way", asked Keshuff to the magicians, "Do you two know Ponytalk?"

"Indeed we do!", the two show-offs replied with smiles.

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They all waited until sunset for the show to start. The 8 friends sat near the tent as the two show-offs were setting up things around the tent to look good. Faris and Keshuff sat a little far away from the tent, totally uninterested in seeing boastful illusions being performed.

"We shall need a volunteer!", said Mellaaun.

"How about the purple Pony!", suggested Seehari.

"Me?", asked Twilight, "Is it because my race of Pony has magic?"

"Pretty much", said Seehari.

"I can see there is another Unicorn Pony in the small crowd", said Mellaaun, pointing at Rarity, "But the entirely purple female that you suggested, Seehari, does looks more intriguing"

Twilight walked up onto the "stage of dust", and watched as the two illusionists began to chant and do strange body gestures: "Menkobida woe telcooweh menah woe Oolacooi!"

The two then started to prance around Twilight, Seehari the Baboon did some sort of sparky explosion near her face and Mellaaun the Gemsbok did the same thing.

"You think your power is greater than ours?", said Mellaaun.

"Well wait and see how our magic can handle life", added Seehari.

Twilight could see that all the swirling lights around her were projections from camera-like lanterns and the explosive sparks were more of the colorful pebbles the elder Baboon showed her last night.

"_They are indeed doing just illusions_", said Twilight to herself, "_But what they don't fully realize is that I have real magic_"

So she then casted out a beam of magic energy from her horn and up into the orange, sunset sky. The two show-offs stopped dancing and stared at the real magic beam exploding like a bunch of fireworks in the sky.

"You weren't kidding about your magic being real, were you?", said Mellaaun.

"I think we'd better get going", said Seehari, sweating with nervousness. The two illusionists then bolted into their tent in fear and embaressment.

"Good", said Faris, "The show is over, now let us find a different area to sleep for the night"

_To Be Continued_


	17. Fluttershy's Nightmare

Later, once it was dark, the group had decided to use CHIP to transform into a huge, metal tent. Twilight had already brought extra blankets in case they had company and in this case, Faris the Gemsbok and Keshuff the Kiang. Hovering overhead was Tsarog, the Mosqituo-like Demon, ready to induce more nightmares. She was very weak in energy after terrorizing local Animals and had only enough nightmare fuel for only one nightmare.

"I shall try it out on the timid one", Tsarog said outloud to herself, "Fluttershy"

She immediately took that gas cloud form again and warped inside Fluttershy's mind as she slept.

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In Fluttershy's dream, she was just sitting in a peaceful meadow, smelling flowers and having little Butterflys, Squirrels and Chipmunks sit on her and around her. All of a sudden, the ground started to tremble, not as if an earthquake was coming, but more like something walking. Fluttershy nervously looked at a nearby pond and saw its water vibrating as if some enormous two-legged Creature was approaching.

"Maybe I can make friends with it", she suggested to herself.

But the thing arrived, towering over poor little Fluttershy from behind. Shee turned around to face the thing, gulped and looked up quivering. It was a 40,000 foot high Ape-like Beast walking on two legs. It did not have much fur on its body but mostly short orange hair on the scalp of its head, it had really long sharp claws on its fingers and toes, it had long sharp saber/scimitar-like teeth, its skin was pale purple, it had pointy ears and glowing yellowish orange eyes. It looked down at Fluttershy and licked its long teeth, hungry for Pony meat.

"Oh no!", mumbled Fluttershy in fear, "It's that extinct Primate, the one living Animal I actually fear...h...h...h-h-h-hu-hu...Human!"

The Human made an enormous roar at the Pegasus Pony and started to chase her, aided by two more Humans as a pack. Fluttershy ran into both an adult Mountain Dragon and an adult Ursa (or Ursa Major), these were two things she used to be afraid of but not anymore. The Dragon flew into the air, swooped toward one of the Humans and tried to scorch the massive Primate's face, but the Human just snorted green fire from its nostrils at the poor Dragon, grabbed it with its tongue and swallowed the Reptile whole. The Ursa tried to bite and claw at the same Human's leg, but the Human bicked up a Redwood Tree and used it to smash at the poor, constellation-like Bear and then gobbled down both the Ursa and the Tree.

Fluttershy thought she was done for as the Humans closed in for the kill.

xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

Fluttershy woke up in a sweat and made a tiny and adorable scream of fear. She looked around to see everyone else still asleep. She reminded herself to keep it together and remember that Humans are extinct. Tsarog limply flew away, looking for another place ot terrorize and possibly get more evil energy.

_To Be Continued_


	18. Desert Dragon To The Rescue

As the dawn started to come, Chop and Digger were already approaching the huge metal tent from a distance.

"Are you ready to use your bad mumbo jumbo magic, Digger?", asked Chop.

"Indeed, my ignorant partner", snickered Digger, "It is nearly impossible for a Unicorn Pony, like myself, to actually activate the Dark Death Spell; but now that I am evil and genetically-mutated, just like you are, I am able to use it"

"What?", asked Chop, very much being his same ignorant self.

"Just shut up and watch", growled Digger.

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The group finally woke up Twilight drowsily pushed a secret button that allowed CHIP to transform back into a calculator-like device. Faris suddenly spotted Chop and Digger on the horizon and got worried.

"The two alted Ponies", he hollered out, "They are attacking!"

"What's that Digger's doing?", asked Griffy, catching sight of Digger's dark-colored magic being slowly used from his horn.

"It can't be!", gasped Twilight in shock.

"But it is", said Rarity in a gasp.

"The Dark Death Spell", the two female Unicorn Ponies said in unison.

"Looks like this is your last dawn!", said Chop in excitement and an evil grin.

"Prepare to meet your fate!", snicked Digger as finally let the spell out, it was an enormous black smokey-looking wave of magic energy, and it bolted straight toward the six female Ponies, trapping them inside an enormous ball of that black-colored magic.

Spike, Griffy, Keshuff and Faris tried to break through it, but it was too powerful.

"They must be dying in there", said Spike with a worried face.

"Oh they are not dying", said Digger, giving an evil grin, "They're dead!"

The four non-Ponies gasped in shock. They quickly retreated away to find help while Chop and Digger began evil laughing.

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As the four ran along, the ones most upset and concerned were Spike and Griffy, they were crying like mad because their six good friends were dead inside that black sphere of evil magic.

"Isn't there a Desert Dragon in this area that knows about bad magic?", Keshuff asked Faris.

"I do believe so", replied Faris, "I think he lives in that cave, conveniently-shaped like a Pony skull, in the face of that mountain right over there"

As soon as the four reached the cave, the Desert Dragon they were seeking was sleeping at the edge of the cave's mouth basking in the sun. It was a very spectular-looking enormous Reptile; its scales were shiny gray-colored, it had a long, Snake-shaped body, four large Lizard-like legs, a pair of stumpy useless wings on its back, a pair of small Cattle-like horns on its head and a long snout like that of a Monitor Lizard.

"H-h-hello?", stammered Keshuff in the Tarko language, hoping that the Dragon would not attack.

The Desert Dragon's eyelids quickly opened to reveal two huge, yellow eyes with red-colored slit pupils.

"Who disturbs my solitude", growled the Desert Dragon in the Tarko language as it lifted its long neck into the air and stretched out its tail, legs and useless wings, its voice sounding gruff and deep, "If your reason is no good then I will consume you"

"We have come to seek your help", said Faris, "These two outlanders have lost their friends to something called the Dark Death Spell"

The Desert Dragon looked at Spike and Griffy and raised one of its eyebrows at Spike specifically.

"A Mountain Dragon, eh?", said the Desert Dragon in Tarko, "Well then if a fellow Dragon needs help then I shall be there to do the job"

"What's he saying?", asked Spike and Griffy to Faris and Keshuff.

"He says he'll do anything for a fellow Dragon", replied Keshuff.

"Follow me!", anounced the Desert Dragon in Tarko while gesturing his head to say: _Come along_. He then dove into the sand and swam through it as if it were water and Spike, Griffy, Faris and Keshuff followed.

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Meanwhile, back at the sight of Chop and Digger's attack, the two were just sitting near the black floating ball, wondering that something seemed to be missing.

"Do we need to get trophies?", asked Chop.

"No, it's not that", replied Digger, "It seems as though our mission is incomplete"

Suddenly, the same Desert Dragon from before ermerged its long neck and head from the sandy dunes, sensed that Chop and Digger were serving darkness and roared at the two of them. He then breathed a big blast of fire at the two genetic mutant Ponies.

"RETREAT!", shouted Digger in fear, running away in panic.

"WAIT FOR ME!", shouted Chop, following Digger as fst as he could.

Spike, Griffy, Keshuff and Faris finally caught up to see Chop and Digger running in terror over the dunes and the Desert Dragon just sitting next to the black and smoke-like sphere floating in the air.

"Can you resurrect the six trapped dead inside that floating sphere?", asked Spike and Griffy to the Desert Dragon, tears coming their eyes like crazy.

"Yoomkino denet bareph woe sitta dowmohousarena myyitt dehala denna aain meeden?", Faris translated to the Desert Dragon on what Spike and Griffy just asked for him.

The Desert Dragon then revealed how he knew good magic by raising up the claws on his left front foot and wiggled his wings while whispering the resurrection spell he knew. He was primarily contacting help from the Alicorns.

As the sphere slowly began to fade away, the six dead Ponies inside were quickly being brought back to life. The six girls then fell onto the groud alive again and had forgotten about what just happened.

"YOU'RE ALRIGHT! PRAISE CELESTIA AND THE REST OF HER ALICORN KIN!", shouted Spike and Griffy with happiness tears of joy pouring from their eyes and they all had a group hug. Faris and Keshuff thanked the Desert Dragon and the great Reptile lumbered back to his cave for much needed rest.

_To Be Continued_

NOTE: The part were the Ponies die was requested by DarthWill3.


	19. PolishFine and Terrorixie

As the group trekked further on, Vultures flew high overhead, hoping for one of the Beings bellow to go down.

"HELP!", shouted out a male voice from not too far away. The voice sounded familiar only to Rarity.

"Could it be?", she said outloud, "My cousin, Polish-Fine IV?"

They all looked over the next sand dune to see a young male Unicorn Pony, a little older than Rarity, running like crazy from a gigantic Scorpion a little larger than an Elephant.

"That is a Desert Giant Scorpion", said Faris, "They are a slightly more bigger than other varietes of Giant Scorpion in other world wide warm regions"

"And that one is after my cousin!", shouted Rarity in horror, "I must save him!"

Rarity immediately bolted down the dune towards the attack, despite all the protests the rest of the team were giving her.

"STAY AWAY FROM MY FINE COUSIN, YOU ENORMOUS VERMIN!", shouted Rarity as she galloped toward the huge Arachnid. She then tried to rear up on haunches on use her front hooves to hurt the Scorpion, but its exoskeletal armor was to thick. The Desert Giant Scorpion completely ingored Rarity and continued to try and stab its massive tail at poor Polish-Fine.

"AROKADEB!", shouted out Faris at the top of his lungs. The Scorpion stopped attacking, paused and turned towards where that call came from. Faris continued to shout out Tarko words fiercely until the huge Arachnid felt as though it was being over powered by the volume of the Mammal's voice. It then left in search of a more defenseless meal, believing that Polish-Fine was being protected.

"Polish?", asked Rarity, hoping that her cousin was okay.

"Cousin Rarity?", said Polish with a smile, in the same pseudo-Brittish accent as Rarity had, "You came all this way the main Pony territory just for a visit?"

Rarity introduced her male cousin to her 7 friends and the two Tarko Desert locals. Rarity's female friends could not help but admire at how hansome Polish was. He had a the same fur color as Rarity but slightly darker toned, his mane and tail were very black, his eyes were as blue as Rarity's eyes and he wore a light brown vest.

"Ah yes", grumbled Faris, with a slightly annoyed expression on his face, "I see that the glamorous outlander is indeed related to one of these Sandorraians"

"He does not seem all that bad", Keshuff said to Faris.

"What's with the two natives?", asked Polish as soon as he noticed Faris and Keshuff, "A Kiang and a Gemsbok, eh?"

"What were you doing outside of your settlement town?", asked Keshuff.

"Yes, why?", butted in Faris, his voice filled with tiny anger, hoping that the settler had left for a good reason.

"I'm actually lost", replied Polish, "I've been lost for days now, I was out studying the local flora until some dark cloud with red eyes chased after me in the night, trying to talk me into joining its evil forces. It scared me out of my wits. I've been searching for my way back to Sandorraia since then. I've been tangling with Jackals, Camels, Death Worms, Fenrirs, Dragons and Giant Scorpions all the time I have been lost"

"Well then", said Faris with a sinister smirk, "Looks like we may have a straggler to accompany us on our journey to Sandorraia, now let's get out of here before any other predators show up"

"He really does not like us settler Ponies, eh?", Polish asked the rest of the group.

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Meanwhile, in the dark lair of Kurayami, the lord of darkness was outraged.

"My reign of glory over the six top Elements of Harmony, short-lived", hissed the evil Being, "Yet those two idiotic mutant Ponies, Chop and Digger forgot that there are eight Elements in all and the Dragon and Griffin represent them"

Trixie suddenly emerged from the shadows cowering in fear of the great smoke-like Entity, Chop and Digger had already been brought back to the lair and were trying to both make romantic moves on Trixie, thinking she was hot. "Uuuuummm...excuse me?", asked Trixie nervously, "Were you always like this?"

"No", responded Kurayami, "I used to be a good Being, named Karu, created by the Alicorns as an aid to do good justice for the universe. Throughout the millions of years since the Alicorns created me, I noticed that they control the rotation of planets around their stars, controling the gravity, since they did make the whole universe and nature. I turned against them all, invented evil and transformed myself, from a white cloud with blue eyes to a black cloud with red eyes, as well as rename myself from Karu to Kurayami"

"Riiiiiight", said Trixie slowly and worryingly, worried about what right to say around the master of evil, "When should I attack? And h-how am I going to actually hurt them all? I honestly don't get how this will be physically possible"

"Simple", hissed Kurayami, and it dove right into Trixie's body, causing her to transform into a tall, dark purple Unicorn Pony with a balck cape a fierce-lookinh violet eyes.

"I...am", said the new and possesed Trixie, "TERRORIXIE!"

_To Be Continued_


	20. Across the Desert Sands

It was already late in the morning and before the group of 11 Beings began to trek for Sandorraia, Keshuff decided to remind Faris about something.

"These outlanders, including the settler are indeed still first-timers at desert-travelling", the young Kiang said to the Gemsbok in Tarko, "You should probably give them a a layout of this area of the desert"

"Since this is your first crossing of this area, in fact your first crossing of this desert in general", Faris anounced to the 8 friends and Polish in Ponytalk, "Then listen up. In this huge area of ther Tarko Desert in particular, there is no water until we reach the other side. And you better keep up, because if a predator catches one of you outlanders, you're on your own. MOVE OUT!"

"Oh dear", sighed Rarity, "Looks indeed like a long walk"

"I you all smell something sizzling", said Griffy, "It could be me"

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The large group moved across the baking sand, the ground very warm beneath their feet. The only things the Ponies, Faris and Keshuff got to eat were dry Desert Grass clumps while Spike and Griffy ate small Beetles. Later in the afternoon, they were already going past a row of tall, rock-made mountains. Spike maybe cold-blooded, but even cold-blooded Animals can overheat, so he was taking refuge in the shade of Fluttershy's long mane. They all looked up, sweating and panting, at the merciless sun, hoping that this heat would end soon.

"They're moving too slow", said Faris to Keshuff.

"I'll pick up the pace", replied Keshuff. And he made a neighing call out to the "outlanders" to tell them to pick up the pace a bit.

Later that night, the were then all walking along an enormous dune, cooled down in the light of the full moon. Griffy noticed Applejack so exhausted that she was slightly wandering off the dune a bit. He flew onto her back and patted her to remind her to stay with the group.

"You're wandering off a bit", said the Pygmy Griffin.

"There's a sayin' called "a Monkey on mah back"", moaned AJ as she caught up with the rest of the group, "In this case, a Griffin on mah back"

A little further on, they came across the dead corpse of a Camel. There were nocturnal Flies already picking at the body and it was already starting to smell bad.

"Obviously dead from old age", said Faris, "Spike, Griffy, you two might not get to enjoy this carcass, for I already see some Golden Jackals approaching over that sand-covered cliff over there"

The Gemsbok was very much right, 4 or 5 Jackals were already approaching, their eyes shining in the moonlight. The the group moved on and the Jackals arrived at the Camel carrion as soon as the large group was out of sight and starting chowing down on the body's meat.

Later on, the sun was rising up over the great sandy dunes. Pinkie Pie collapsed from extreme exhaustion onto the hot sand.

"On your feet Pinkie", said Spike as he tried to help Pinkie back up by pushing her on the side, and it eventually worked, "We can't let those Jackals and Death Worms eat any of us, they're out there waiting"

However little did any of the band know was that the same pack of Jackals was still at the Camel carcass and they had nearly picked it clean and were napping next to the blood-stained skeleton. One of the Jackals suddenly woke up and twitched its ears, something big and dangerously predatory was approaching. It woke up the rest of the pack just in time and they all ran away from the Camel skeleton in panic. A huge flying Creature had accidently frightened away the Jackals and was landing near the carcass. The huge and feather-covered Beast cocked its head and sniffed the air.

"Ponies", the huge Bird hissed in Tarko, "Accompanied by 4 other species: Gemsbok, Kiang, Mountain Dragon and Pygmy Griffin. This is going to be perfect, and maybe I can over through that Phoenix and get my reputation back in Canterlot"

_To Be Continued_


	21. Water Found

Finally, the group reached a natural pitstop: a big waterhole, just over the next hill.

"FINALLY!", shouted out Keshuff in excitement, "I can finally quench my thirst!"

"As can I", added Faris.

"Time for some wet and wild fun!", exclaimed Griffy.

"Yeah baby!", shouted Spike.

"Time for a beauty bath!", said Rarity with joy.

"Time to replennish my fluid levels!", said Rainbow, "I'll need it for speed"

"We can play splash games!", squeeled Pinkie with happiness.

As the 11 Beings reached the top of the hill, they were all expecting to see a really big source of cool fresh water the size of Ponyville's park. But when they got to the top, they saw something that shocked them gratefully: the huge, Ponyville park-sized waterhole was dried up, not a trace of water left. The thing that remained were a few boulders, a whole coating of sandy dust and a few bones.

"How could I have been so ignorant?", growled Faris outloud, smaking his hoof onto his face, "It is the middle of the dry season"

They all just sighed.

"Keep your spirits up!", anounced Faris, "Sandorraia is only a few more miles away from this area, KEEP MOVING!". And he started moving along the edge of the dried-up waterhole.

"Faris!", complained Keshuff, trying his best to catch up with the determined Gemsbok, "No outlander, not even us Tarko natives have gone this far without water. We may lose some of our friends here"

"Well to bad for them", growled Faris, "Most of them are Ponies"

xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

The 8 friends could not believe that the usual water in this area was gone for the season. They all then noticed poor Polish dragging himself into the dried-out waterhole, moaning to himself: "I've visited this area before, while I was lost, and I could have sworn that I found a bit of h20 here"

The 8 friends followed Polish into the dried-out waterhole, trying to tell to keep moving along. Suddenly, Applejack got a little frustrated that there was no water that she stimped as hard as she could on the ground. All of a sudden, that stomp she made with her natural Earth Pony strength made a strange, liquid-sounding rumble course through the ground of the waterhole.

"Wait a minute!", said Griffy, "AJ, don't move!"

"What in tarnation's goin' on?", asked AJ.

"I think I know what's being attempted here", interjected Twilight, "Zecora told me about a technique she and other large herbivores do back in her savannah homeland whenever water is seemingly missing"

Applejack dug a little deeper in the ground, making a small hole, and then pressed down, just as she had seen Zecora the Zebra do. All of a sudden, water, trapped underneath the surface, emerged, getting AJ's hoof wet.

"WATER!", shouted out the 8 friends and Polish in joy, "HEY! FARIS! KESHUFF! WE FOUND WATER!"

The two locals were still moving, Keshuff trying to talk Faris out of believing that Ponies were bad. When they both heard the "outlanders" calling out that they had found water, they both got really excited and raced over to the group. The 11 Creatures all drank the water like crazy, chugging the liquid down as fast as they all could. The water was little dusty, but that did not enitirely matter to the group.

xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

Meanwhile, that mysterious gigantic Bird from earlier that is tracking down our heroes got a some some of message warped into his brain, from Terrorixie (Trixie posessed by Kurayami): _Be sure to make it to Sandorraia before the heroes do and pretend that you are not there_

"Yes master", replied the huge, Eagle-like Bird, "And maybe I will get Celestia to care for me again. You sure that all this evil activity will get me back my reputation in Canterlot?"

"_You have my word_", spoke the voice of Terrorixie inside the huge Bird-of-Prey's head.

_To Be Continued_


	22. Sandorraia

The mysterious giant Eagle-like Bird quickly took a short cut to Sandorraia, unseen by the group.

After walking for another few more miles, the group finally spotted Sandorraia up ahead. It was a small city of sandstone-made buildings, the tallest looking very much like a Saudi Arabian palace.

"We made it!", exclaimed both Rarity and Polish, happily.

Just as the 8 friends and Polish were starting for the city, they all suddenly noticed that Faris and Keshuff were a little hesitant-acting to follow. "It might be best if we say our goodbye right now", said Keshuff, "We Tarko natives have forbided ourselves to approach anywhere near this settlement, for it is invasive of our land"

"Well then how will you two find your way back to the the other Kiangs, Baboons and other Gemsbok?", asked Twilight, worried for them getting lost.

"We rely on the stars at night, of course", replied Faris, "Now farewell to you all, come now Keshuff"

The 9 just watched, a little sad, as the Kiang and Gemsbok wandered back the way they came over the dunes on the horizon.

xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

The 9 Beings rushed straight for the city and went right through the arched, gateless entry.

"Time now for the tour!", anounced Polish, and he started showing the eight around Sandorraia, "As you can see, there are a lot of side street shows of Ponies pretending to swallow swords and breath fire. Watch out for the merchants, for they will try and force a product into your interest"

"Hold on for a minute, Polish!", said Rarity, "You have a very nice city, but we have primarily come to see why communications with the main Pony civilizations back in our range of Equestria have stopped.

"Where are those messgae carrying Pigeons? And where are those Canterlot guards and Princess Luna?", added Griffy.

"The truth is...", mumbled Polish, "Our leader has, for a while now, refused to make any contact anymore, he thinks that we can run our own land now, he wants freedom from a parlement lifestyle and wants a republic democracy He ordered for the guards to be thrown into execution and for Luna to be just a dungeon prisoner. I know, that's a sin to treat an Alicorn like that"

"Well then we should have a world with him", said Twilight with a serious tone.

"Good luck with that", replied Polish, "He has not shown his face since he stopped sending Pigeons from delivering messages and everything"

All of a sudden, two bizzare-looking Rats raced out of the shadows of an ally way and scuried towards the 9 Beings. One rat was strangely pink-colored and the other was a shiny silver color. All the mysterious Rats did was laugh at the 7 Ponies, young Dragon and Griffin.

"Street performers?", Rainbow Dash asked Polish.

"No", he replied, "I've never even seen Rats like these before"

"They don't look like they're related to Ratty, who's that Rat who serves Kurayami", said Twilight, "And yet, they look as though they are actually another species but under a temporary spell"

That's when the Rats' bodies started to shift a bit, and the 2 Rodents started acting like they had huge headaches. They both quickly ran back into the shadows of the ally way and his behind the trash so they would be unseen. They morphed back into their real forms, so they were not Rats at all; but Diamond Tiara and Silver Spoon out on a scouting mission for Kurayami (who had given them temporary Rat forms to blend in).

The two found a dark portal to Kurayami's realm open up in front of them as soon as they whispered the evil password and entered.

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That's when the group saw the enormous Eagle-like Bird perch on top of the fancy palace of Sandorraia's leader.

"Is that a Roc?", said Twilight.

"I didn't know rocks could fly or had feathers", said Pinkie Pie.

"Not R-O-C-K, Pinkie", groaned Twilight in annoyance, "R-O-C, no K!"

The Roc just look down to see the group looking up from way down bellow. He made a squawk-like laugh of sinister nature, destroyed part of the palace roof to make an enormous hole and swooped right in.

The group were ready to enter and battle whatever dangers lurk within the palace. Polish decided to wait outside, for he was a little too freaked out of th strange activity to join in on the action.

_To Be Continued_


	23. Roc Attack!

As soon as the eight heroic friends raced inside the palace doorway, they saw the city's leader, standing in front of his throne with a crazy look in his eyes. He was a Unicorn Pony (since Sandorraia has been founded only by Unicorn Ponies) with a fancy yellow turban on his head, a a ruby medalion around his neck and had a small mustache as well.

"Are you all tourists here?", he asked, looking strangely like he was disorientated as he spoke, "If you are not and are acutally agents or whatever sent by Princess Celestia come to resolve any problems, then you are all waisting time. For it is to late to talk me out of this idea of independence"

"Polish was right", said Rarity, "The leader both looks and acts bizarre"

"He looks like he hasn't been working out in a while", said Rainbow Dash, "So he's probably needs exercise to get his head on straight"

"He looks lahke he got hit hard on the noggin with a very thick Apple", said Applejack.

"Maybe he needs to have fun at a somepony's birthday party or something", said Pinkie.

"Maybe he just needs a hug because he's been working really hard as a leader, so he has stress from no friendly attention", said Fluttershy.

"He looks like he's been staring at the sun a little to long", said Spike.

"He looks posessed in the brain", said Griffy.

"Or maybe under an evil influence", said Twilight, looking around the huge throne room they were all in just now, seeing if there were any signs of evil activity.

That's when she spotted the Roc from earlier, perched on top of one of the high indoor statues, grinning in a sinister way at the group.

"Have you got something to do with this?", Twilight shouted up to the Roc.

"Oh no, not me", said Roc in gruff, yet somewhat polite, voice, "I'm just here to exterminate you 8 specifically, the represenatives of the 8 Elements of Harmony. Sandorraia's leader here is just under a Demonic influence by the Demon called Tsarog"

All of a sudden Tsarog warped out of nowhere, right behind the leader of the city and snickered.

"This is all part of the plan to get all the Ponies of Sandorraia to join the Legion of Evil", said the Mosquito-like Creature, stroking the leader's neck as if she were flirting.

The 8 friends tried to use the power of the Elements of Harmony to blast Tsarog, but she was incredible at dodging the blows.

"Don't just stand there, feather head!", Tsarog snarled at the Roc as soon as she flew up to his perch, "This is your chance to get your place back in Canterlot, showing you're better than these 8 youngsters!"

"Hey! You're that Pygmy Griffin that me and those Ogres chased away from that stronghold I used to work for", said the Roc looking carefully at Griffy, "In case you don't know, I quit my job for those Lizard-like Creatures with Dog ears quite recently. Now back to buiseness!"

The Roc then swooped down, screaching loudly and lifted up his talons at the heroes, ready for attack. "THIS IS FOR YOU, MY REPUTATION WITH CELESTIA!"

"I don't think we'll need a Genie for this one", said Griffy, "But I think I know what Rocs really can't stand". He then started to scratch his claws on the marble floor. The scratching screech noise irritated the Roc, making him feel twisted in his stomach and the noise also hurted his head badly. The rest of the group joined in on the scratched of the marble floor.

"Stop that infernal sound!", wailed the Roc in agony, landing onto the floor and covering his ears with his wings, "Tsarog! Help me out!". But Tsarog was being a little impatient with the Roc's pet peeve.

"I'll just leave it all up to Terrorixie now", grumbled the Demon and she poofed away with her arms crossed in anger.

The Roc finally flew through the whole he made in the roof to make an escape. "WE SHALL MEET AGAIN!", he shouted at them, "And I really wish Celestia would care for me again"

Twilight wondered what the huge, Eagle-like, brown Bird of Prey ment by "Celestia caring for me again".

As soon as all evil activity was gone from the throne room, the leader of Sandorraia shook his head and his eyes no longer looked crazy.

"What happened?", he asked outloud, "And who are you 8 youngsters? You, the white-colored, purple-maned girl, you strangely look kind of like that scholar boy from around here, Polish-Fine"

"I'm his cousin", replied Rarity, "And don't you remember anything sir?"

The leader explained all he could remember and the 8 new definately he had been under evil control.

"Time to go and find Princess Luna now", said Twilight to the rest of her seven friends with a heroic tone in her voice, "She must be having a horrible time in the dungeon"

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Meanwhile, Terrorixie was hiding in the shadows of the dark realm and snickered. "I look forward to our battle, Ponyville citizens. Especially with you, Twilight Sparkle. Soon I will have my great dignity and I shall rule Equestria until I die"

She then started to warp herself to the mortal realm, ready for an upcoming battle between her and the 8 friends.

_To Be Continued_


	24. The Dungeon and Lair

The 8 friends found a small corridor near the edge of the throne room which led straight to the dungeon, and that was where Luna was being held hostage. They all rushed down the twisting stone stairway until they came to the actual huge dungeon itself. It was made of granite, had rusty chains hanging everywhere and cobwebs in the many corners of the huge room near the bared windows.

"Charming place", said Rarity sarcasticly as she looked around, a little grossed out by the rustic dungeon, "I must get the name of its decorator"

They all finally spotted Luna, chained to the dusty floor with chains that can block young Alicorn powers (these chains were enchanted by Demons), nibbling on the fuzzy green Moss that grew in the sunlight through the window that shined near also did not look to happy, but rather depressed.

As they all approached her, Luna slowly turned her gaze toward her rescuers and began to smile."Greetings, represenative heroes", she said to them, "I have had nothing but only this Moss to keep me company the whole time I have been imprisoned here"

"And we're here to bust you out!", said Spike.

"For I miss the subject called "fun" that you all showed that Nightmare Night remember?", continued Luna.

"I like you, Luna", Griffy chuckled, "Nothing you say makes any sense!"

"Well...", continued Luna, "We want to get out of these chains and.."

"Ugh! Will stop it with the "we", it sounds like you're posessed", complained Rainbow Dash.

"I'm definately with her on that", said Griffy.

"Then from now on I shall speak like all of you", said Luna, "Now PLEEEEAAAASE get me out of here!"

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After the gang used the power of the Elements of Harmony on the enchanted chains, Luna's strength immediately came back to her and she used her powers to blow a hole through the bar window and escape. She then started to fly back for Canterlot.

"Does this mean our adventurous mission is over?", asked Applejack.

"Not quite yet", said Twilight, "All we got to do now is confront the real evil behind this whole situation"

"A little help over here, mind you?", said a familiar British voice from the shadows. The Creature dragged himself out of the darkness, all chained up. It was a Mammal the gang had met before, William the "actual" Unicorn.*

"William!", said Twilight in surprise, "What are you doing chained up in this dungeon in the Tarko Desert, miles from your green home near Ponyville?"

"I had attempted to vacation by the desert's coastline", said William, "I used an enormous slingshot to get me there faster. I landed here in Sandorraia, some Demons captured me and thought I was a spy and through me in here"

The 8 heroes broke William's chains and William then offered to join them on their mission to stop the evil around the Tarko Desert. "I also wish for a ride back home with you 8 juvenilles", he requested, soluting with his right front leg and made a strange gesture with his hoof-like toes as a sign of loyalty.

"Very well", said Twilight, "But try and stay out of trouble"

"Allow me to escort you all to your next destination", hissed an evil-sounding female voice from the shadows, "Name's Terrorixie and I wish to battle you"

The floor beneath the 9 Creatures turned into a dark portal which warped all 9 of them into the dark realm of Kurayami. Most of the setting around them all was black and misty. They all gulped in fear. All of a sudden, in a warp of dark green smoke in front of them, appeared what looked like Nightmare Moon, except that this one had no wings, was dark purple, had a dark blue cape and deep violet eyes.

"I am Terrorixie!", shouted the posessed Pony, "Formerly, The Great and Powerfil Trixie!"

"Great", sighed Rainbow Dash, "Trixie's gone to the dark side"

Terrorixie blasted a huge wave of energy from her horn at the 9 Beings, turning them into very young versions of themselves. The six Ponies were foals again, William was a calf (baby Unicorn) again, Spike was a hatchling again and Griffy was a chick-cub (baby Griffin) again.

"How can you stop me now that you are all babies?", mocked Terrorixie.

"I'm not a baby!", shouted Twilight.

"What she said!", added Griffy.

"How about we try that trick you've shown us Griff", said Rainbow, "Any living thing can do it, brain waves?"

"Oh yeah, asenhalo for reminding me!", said Griffy.

"You think you can beat me with an old scientist's religion?", said Terrorixie with an unamused face.

But when the 9 concentrated hard enough, they unleashed a colorful ray of brain waves right at Terrorixie, causing Kurayami to flee from her body. The redemed Trixie fell to the floor, unconcious. Twilight and Rarity used their young magic together to turn themselves and the rest of the team back to their normal ages and teleported Trixie to Canterlot to get better.

"We've got Kurayami to battle now", said Griffy heroicly.

_To Be Continued_

* Whenever William speaks, picture Eric Idle's voice, for some reason I see him with that.


	25. The Dark Battle

"Brain waves, eh?", asked William as he and the 8 friends walked through the dark and eerie layer, "My understanding is that they are more powerful and stronger than the thing the Unicorn-like race of Pony Horse can do, magic"

"Sad but true", sighed Twilight, remembering how embarressing she found it when they all discovered that any living thing who uses his or her full brain copassity, and that magic is very weak comparred to brain waves.

Fluttershy could not help but cower in fear at this terrifying dark realm of evil.

All of a sudden, the group reached what looked like four tall collums in a circle, each being 103 feet high and in the middle of the circle the 4 collums were surrounding was what looked like a tall beam of bright yellow light, stretching 50 feet into the air.

"This must be where Kurayami, itself, wants to challenge us", said Twilight, "This arena-like location is clearly where it wants to fight becasue it looks so convenient"

"You better stay here, William", said Rarity, "This situation right now calls for the Elements of Harmony"

"I know the drill", said William, going over to one of the huge collums to hide, "Call me out when you've won!"

xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

The 8 heroic friends walked right into the area-like place and look up to see what looked like a floating mass of black debris, hovering above the tall light in the very center of the "arena".

"Kurayami! We have come!", shouted Twilight, picking up as much nerve as she could.

From the unseen depths of the bright light's base on the floor, a bizarre and very creepy-looking, Alicorn-like Creature stepped forward.

"What?", the 8 friends exclaimed in disbelief.

"I have been waiting for you and a time like this", said the Creature in a hiss-like voice as it stepped into a clear view of the 8 friends. It covered in black fur, had gray hooves, a tallish silver-colored horn on its forehead, sharp teeth sticking out of its mouth like an Alligator, had a pair of Bat-like wings on its back, had a dull gray tail, a black and red-striped mane, a Cutie Mark of a cracked heart and green slime dripping from its muzzle, horn, gut, chest and tail.

"But you...you are...", objected the 8 friends, stammering in confusion at what they were looking at.

"I am that which you are sworn to protect", said the Alicorn-like Beast.

"Wait, it's a trick! This is clearly Kurayami trying to make us join him by pretending to be a Pony or Alicorn all this time when he really was never either species!", interjected Rarity, realizing Kurayami's current scheme, "We must destroy it!"

"Destroy me?", said Kurayami defiantly, "You mortals cannot destroy me. No more than you can destroy the sea, the wind or...the void"

"You are like the sea?", objected Fluttershy, trying her best to sound like she had attitude, but doing it poorly, "The seas and oceans bare life! In evolutionary terms, the sea bore us! *fear-filled whimper*"

"I had a tiny part in barring you", said Kurayami, "For I am practically nothing. And out of nothing, your ancestors originally came. And it is into nothing that you will go. For the record, the Alicorns, your real creators, are hypothetically known by some to have come out of nothing themselves"

"I once stood with the Alicorns", it continued, "I was once a good creation of theirs named Karu. The people of the world are builders. But look into their hearts...and you will find that they also have the power to destroy. I am that power. I am destruction. And I WILL destroy you"

"But..." said Twilight, still not quite believing, "You are but a Pony...I think"

"You expected something else?", snarled Kurayami, starting to sound very serious, "Something like THIS?"

And as it said that, Kurayami transformed itself, joining with the swirling debris from up above. It reached out with long, twisting, tentacle-like arms to swat away the 8 heroic friends, one by one. The 8 tried their best to dodge each approaching tentacle, only to be hit by another.

"Our only hope is to work together!", shouted Twilight over the now-roaring sound of the vortex form Kurayami had taken.

The eight started to use the powers of the Elements of Harmony on the evil thing and shouted out as they blasted.

"HONESTY!"

"LAUGHTER!"

"LOYALTY!"

"GENEROSITY!"

"KINDNESS!"

"FRIENDSHIP!"

"UNITY!"

"MAGIC..Oh wait, maybe I should say INTRIGUE!"

The converging forces of all 8 Elements was then too much for Kurayami to bear.

"You cannot destroy me", said Kurayami defiantly, "For I am practically nothing"

And with that, the vortex collapsed and the voice of Kurayami spoke loudly, "I shall return"

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William poked his out from behind the collum and walked over to ther heroes and admired their Harmony Armor.

"Does this mean that the inventor of evil is gone forever?", the Unicorn asked.

"Defeated" said Griffy, "But not gone. We have won the battle, but we have not yet won the war"

"Now how do we get out of here?", asked Spike.

All of a sudden, a white light from nowhere shined on the 9 Beings, warping them back to the mortal realm and in Sandorraia. Standing right in front of them was both Princess Celestia and Princess Luna, looking proud of the mission's success. Polish was racing for them, jumped into the and tackled Rarity over for fun and to the fact that his cousin was okay.

"Did you two get us out of that dreadful place?", asked William, and after the two female Alicorns nodded, he got very happy, "PRAISE YOU TWO AND THE REST OF YOUR KIND!"

Pretty soon, the two royal sisters were flying back to Canterlot while William and the 8 friends rode back on CHIP in its airplane-like mode. They all returned in triumph, just as Canterlot was begining a celebration for them all that all was back to normal, for now at least. William departed Canterlot to get back to his home in the EverFree Forest.

"So you and your friends battled that talking black cloud with eyes, eh?", said Celestia to her two best students, Twilight Sparkle and Griffy, "You must have been just as scared as I was back when I fought that thing, I was just a teenager"

"So is Kurayami really gone now?", asked Griffy, having second thoughts on his idea about Kuraymi not being defeated permanently.

"Defeated, indeed", replied the Alicorn, "But not gone. I'm so proud of you two, all 8 of you actually"

_The End_

_(The story contiues with "The EverFree Core")_


End file.
